


In a land of Science and a time of heroes

by Daughter_of_the_TARDIS



Series: Strange Families [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Merlin (TV), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Albion, Arthurian, Awesome Darcy Lewis, BAMF Darcy Lewis, Badass Women, Camelot, Darcy Lewis is the fandom bicycle and I love it, Darcy Pendragon, Darcy is the baby, Dragons, F/F, F/M, Female Friendship, Good Morgana (Merlin), Immortal Darcy Lewis, Immortal Merlin (Merlin), Jane Foster & Darcy Lewis Friendship, King Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), King Merlin (Merlin), M/M, Modern Era, Modern Royalty, Parent Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Parent Merlin (Merlin), Political Intrigue, Protective Knights (Merlin), Reincarnation, The Old Religion (Merlin), Witch Darcy Lewis, Witch!Darcy Lewis, and must be protected, arthurian legends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2020-09-27 15:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 61,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20409676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daughter_of_the_TARDIS/pseuds/Daughter_of_the_TARDIS
Summary: The destiny of the world rests on the shoulders of a young woman.Darcy Lewis has been around for a long time, waiting to begin her own destiny.  Now is the time for the new Golden Age of Albion.  If she can keep her scientists alive, her past from catching up with her, and her new family from finding out about her legendary one, that is.Or, the one where Darcy is a Pendragon.





	1. Chapter 1

The lower town of Camelot was crowded with people, but not so full that a little girl couldn't push her way through. The raven haired child did just that, trying to escape her minders. Villagers laughed along with the child, letting her hide under skirts and stalls. People who were visiting in Camelot watched in confusion, not sure who the child was. It was obvious that she was someone of importance from the quality of her dress and the jewelry around her neck. They just had no idea who she was. Of course, they were soon distracted by the Knights of Camelot, crimson cloaks swirling behind them as they made their way through the square. They searched in formation, carefully covering every inch of the square.

A roar was heard from overhead, low and triumphant. The knights eased, their posture relaxing as they watched the being circle a few times overhead. Their target had been found.

One of the knights grinned, looking smug. "Told you so." He said, his lilting accent easily giving him away. It had been his idea to ask the dragons for help finding the missing princess, saying that it would help them find her before she could get into any further trouble. One of the newer knights had laughed - she had only been gone for a single candlemark, he reasoned, so what trouble could she have possibly gotten into? The other knights - particularly those who had been serving the king since the princess had been born - had just stared at him. The princess was a trouble magnet and had been since the moment she was born, when she had sneezed and turned King Arthur's hair bright blue. The only people in the entire kingdom who got into more trouble than she did were her parents.

"Shut up, Gwaine." One of the other knights hissed in reply.

The crowd screamed, but with delight as a pure white dragon came out of the sky, landing in front of the young girl. Golden eyes twinkled as the dragon folded her wings across her back.

"Aithusa!" The dark-haired girl cried out, half in delight and half in irritation. If the dragon had caught up to her, that meant that the knights weren't far behind. Which meant that she would be forced back into lessons soon enough.

"Young princess." The dragon said, a small smile twitching across her lips. "Adrastia."

The tiny blue dragon peeked her head out from the princess's hair. "Hi Thusa." She said, sounding sheepish. Technically, she was supposed to be keeping the princess safe. But they were both still young enough that they spent most of their time getting into mischief as their magic bonded.

"What have you been up to?" The dragon asked, her voice low and melodic. Several people who had come in from outside of Camelot nearly passed out in terror at the sound of the dragon's voice. None of them were used to magic - despite the Kings' goal to unite all of Albion, the Old Religion was still only used in Camelot on a regular basis.

"I got bored." She argued, her voice low as she played with the skirt of her dress. She knew that it wasn't a good answer, but she couldn't help herself. Her aunts had promised to bring her to the market later on in the week, but she had been impatient. Sneaking past the guards was simple enough, and Adrastia had helped her.

"The Kings have been worried, princess." The dragon scolded, nudging her with her tail.

"Father keeps trying to stick me in lessons." The girl argued, pouting slightly as she pushed back at the tail. All of her tutors were boring, and it wasn't until the end of the week for her next magic lesson with her Papa. "It's boring, 'Thusa."

"He only wants what's best for you." The dragon said carefully. "Now come with me - Morgana asked me to come find you, I'm sure she and the Lady Guinevere are eagerly waiting your return."

“You must be more careful, young princess.” The dragon said as they walked side by side back up to the castle. The crowds parted for them, not that either noticed. "Times are changing… you won't be able to just float along any longer. It's time for your destiny to begin."

That was the moment that Darcy Lewis woke up. It took her a moment to remember where she was - in her dorm room at Culver. Her alarm clock blinked at her from its place by her bed, her computer still open to Netflix and shoved halfway across her bed. Her hair was braided down her back, and half the things around her room were floating with the force of her ambient magic. She climbed out of her bed, her hands moving through the motions of making tea. As she got her control back, her eyes flashed gold once more and everything floated back down to it's proper place.

Times are changing, Aithusa had said. But her voice had been Kilgharrah's, deep and rasping and filled with cryptic mischief. But she had to wonder, was it a memory… or a warning.

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A man in an oversized sweatshirt with a red scarf wrapped around his neck trekked through the woods somewhere in the UK. He wasn't sure exactly which country it was - the lines had been redrawn and names had been changed often enough over the years that he couldn't quite keep track anymore. He made this journey often. Not as often as he used to, but still often enough. He travelled for hours, before finally stopping. The centuries had changed the forests slightly - in appearance as well as name - but it was still similar enough for him to reminisce on days gone by.

He froze once he hit the border of the forest, taking a moment to look out over everything in front of him. No matter how much time passed, this was the one place that never changed. The preservation spells that he had put on it centuries ago kept it from being found by anyone else who might try and develop the area. The lake was still a pristine blue, the smallest waves rippling at the water's edge. As he walked down towards the edge, a dark head emerged from the water. The woman came out of the water, walking on top of the waves as she made her way to shore.

The Lady came out of the Lake of Avalon, a small smile on her face as she greeted the man in front of him. "My King." She bowed.

The man in front of her smiled - a large, goofy grin, nothing like what someone might expect out of a legendary king. "Hello again, Freya." He said, pulling her into a hug.

The former King - no longer a king now that his kingdom was gone - got straight to the point. "How is he?"

"He's sleeping still." She reported. "He stirred once, a few months ago, but nothing more." She must have been able to read the disappointment on his face, because she was quick to try and cheer him up.

"He'll be back, Merlin." Freya reassured, but it was too late. "And once he returns, everyone else will follow."

"I know, I know - but why does he have to take so long? Not even Arthur needs this much beauty sleep." He grumbled, and the Lady of the Lake smiled. She had never met a couple that had as strange of a relationship as her Kings did, but it worked for them. The years that they had ruled Camelot side-by-side were some of the happiest that she could remember.

"You just have to be patient." Freya chided, patting a spot next to her on the ground as she sat. "Now tell me about the world outside, Merlin. Tell me about the princess."

The old friends sat together, comparing notes and swapping stories like they had done many times before. Their heads were bent together, one brown and one black, laughing with each other as they spoke long into the night.

His destiny was long past - nothing more than myths and fairy tales anymore. Now it was time for his daughter to take her place - to keep the Old Ways and the balance in check.

She just had to find her knights first.


	2. Chapter 2

Her father had always said that destiny would bring her her people - that they would make her magic sing like nothing else, and help her to build a kingdom of her own. She just had to be patient. There were a few times in the forties when it had lit up, but nothing like her father had described. She was starting to lose hope - Darcy had grown up amongst the brotherhood of the knights, and she wanted that for herself. She wanted to find her people, the ones who would stand by her through everything, both the good and the bad. She hadn’t let herself really get close to anyone since learning that she was immortal so many centuries earlier, and she wanted that again. It just didn't seem to be happening.

Then the 2000s hit - and the age of superheroes began. Her father had been the first to notice it - he had always been the most tuned into the balance of the world. The Old Religion was stirring, waking again. Magic was returning - but in subtler ways. There were no dragons, other than the original three, no sudden influxes of new witches and warlocks. No impossible quests or beasts to vanquish. Not yet. But there was more ambient magic in the world, waiting to be used. Instead, there were superheroes. Men and women in colorful tights and spandex suits, going around and fighting evil. They almost reminded her of knights in a way, protecting the innocent of the world.

At first they were both confused, though. Science and technology were the opposite of the magic that they had both grown up with, and yet somehow the two were interconnected - the balance was stabilising with every year and every new hero that arrived. When they asked, Kilgharrah was as helpful as ever - all that he would say on the matter was that ‘her destiny awaits’.

Her father was muttering for days about ‘bloody cryptic lizards’.

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The second that she met Dr. Jane Foster, she almost dropped everything that she was carrying - including Adrastia in her temporary tank. She had never felt anything like this before, but had heard her father's stories often enough to know what it was. Her magic was singing.

Jane wasn’t like anything Darcy had been expecting. There wasn’t much information about Jane Foster, but she had been picturing her as a put together, serious scientist. She was not expecting the tiny woman in plaid who came racing into the airport in a van that looked like a tank.

They had never actually met in person until Darcy landed in New Mexico. Until that point they had been solely communicating through emails, each going through all the information that the other could possibly need in order to get everything ready. Darcy hadn’t even argued with some of the stranger things that the astrophysicist had asked for, too relieved that someone was willing to take her on for a semester to argue. All she needed was six more credits, and she was free - to either go forward into her chosen field, or pick up and start over again. 

But now she knew that she wouldn’t do either. She was sticking with Jane until the other woman died - hopefully a long time away. 

Of course, Jane didn’t know any of that. She just knew that Darcy was better than any of her past assistants despite her not knowing a thing about astrophysics. She knew every constellation that there ever was, and some that weren’t in the sky any longer. She could read a star chart better than most of Jane’s graduate students ever could. But when it came to actually collecting data, she was terrible. Of course, that didn’t matter as much when Jane realized that Darcy could actually keep her machines functioning properly.

Still, there was something about the woman that was familiar in a way. Something that spoke of years of taking care of other people almost as stubborn as the astrophysicist herself. It was obvious from the very moment that they meant - Jane was running on two hours of sleep and five cups of coffee, and Darcy managed to get her fed and out of the airport, everything loaded into the van and on the road before Jane even knew what was happening.

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Jane was as stubborn as a Pendragon, it seemed. She was more than willing to work herself to death in the name of Science, getting more and more incoherent until she was just scratching out the same three numbers in a row on a napkin after three days with no sleep. She also didn’t seem too fond of trusting other people, especially not with her work. Evidently, she had been dismissed for her wild theories too often for her to really trust that anyone was actually interested in her work. 

Luckily for her, Darcy was no stranger to taking care of difficult people. The Pendragons - both by blood and by marriage - were all stubborn people who needed pushing in the direction of food or a bed more often than not. It was amazing how often her father - the definition of a living legend - forgot that even after centuries of living he still needed to do menial things like eat and sleep. All the rest of her family had been the same way - putting the needs of their people above their own to the point that they almost worked themselves to death. So she had learned how to keep difficult people alive over the centuries. 

It was the same way with Jane. She started small - using Pop-Tarts or homemade sweets to bribe her into showering and brushing her hair, or hiding her data until she got a full eight hours of sleep. Then she would use the time while Jane was sleeping to collate data and answer emails, making sure everything was running smoothly. Eventually, Jane grew to trust Darcy - and Darcy grew to trust Jane.

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Slowly, Jane began to learn the truth about Darcy Lewis - becoming one of the only people alive who did. Of course, it was hard to hide anything when you spent twenty-four hours a day taking care of someone. Although even she - even after too many all-night tequila benders and even more four-day Science! benders - still didn't know everything there was to know about her intern, she knew more than almost anyone else alive.

She knew that butterflies appeared when Darcy was happy - they would perch on people's shoulders, just watching them as they worked. She knew that Darcy had a strange relationship with her pet lizard, using it to judge whether or not she could trust someone. If Adrastia liked a person, then they were deemed to be good people. If she didn’t, they stayed far away from them.

She knew that sometimes Darcy would give her water bottles filled with strangely colored liquids and an order to drink it. She had tried to pass it off as flavored water at first. Jane had stopped believing that after the third time that they made her fall asleep. After that, she asked what was going on, and Darcy told her. 

"I have magic." Darcy said, bracing herself to go through rounds and rounds of arguing with her friend over the idea that 'there's no such thing as magic.' Scientists were always the hardest to convince, and had been since the turn of the century. Before that, everything had been ‘a trick with mirrors’. 

But Jane just seemed excited. "How is that possible?" Jane asked, looking amazed. Her fingers were twitching, like she was itching to reach for a notepad to scribble things down on. Darcy appreciated how she didn't reach for one, respecting her intern's privacy. "You're not a mutant." she said, dismissing that theory right away. “I’ve already seen you cast spells and make potions, which means that it’s not energy manipulation or anything like that.”

Darcy shook her head. "Nope." She agreed. She wasn’t completely sure what she was agreeing with, though - Jane had lost her in her rambles.

"Then how are you doing that? Is it a trick?" Jane was moving all around her, taking her in from every angle as her magic danced around her. Darcy let it out to play - it had been awhile since her magic had been free. It danced around the room, ruffling papers and turning things over. Several butterflies conjured themselves, all of them going to perch on Adrastia. "Your eyes are glowing." She noted, almost absently.

"Yeah, that happens." Darcy said, shrugging it off. "It’s kind of hard to hide, though, so I have to be careful."

"But why does it happen?" Jane asked, her mind already miles away. "Is it some sort of chemical change in the body? A reaction of some kind?" Her eyes lit up. "Oh, maybe -"

Darcy was quick to cut her off, sure she didn't want to hear the next theory. At some point during her wild theorizing, Jane had managed to grab her notebook and had started scribbling things down. "I don't know - it's always been that way. We could ask Papa." She offered, hoping that Jane wouldn't take her up on the offer. As much as she loved her friend, she didn't want to get stuck in a conversation about magical theory between her father and her best friend. She loved them, but magical theory had always made her tired - she preferred working the spells instead of figuring out why they worked.

“How long is always?" Jane asked, looking fascinated as she scribbled down notes. The scientist didn't even seem to have heard her offer of asking her father.

Of course, Darcy quickly found a way to change the subject once that question came up. There were a few things that she didn’t want to deal with for a little while longer, and her exact age was one of them. It was nice, she had realized, having someone who wanted to be around her for her, instead of her family. 

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After that - and a fair amount of drinking tequila shots on the roof and screaming about smashing the patriarchy - they were as close as the knights of old. Darcy's magic became commonplace around the lab. At first, Jane had been worried about how it would affect her equipment, but after a few reassurances from Darcy - 'its not Hogwarts, Janie' - she was all for it. It made it ten times easier to move things around the lab, so that they could just be magically lifted to move.

But no matter what, she would never tell Jane about her family. She mentioned her father, and that the rest of her family was long gone, but that was it. No names or pictures - just the occasional letter from her father. Jane could handle the fact that her assistant had magic. Darcy wasn’t sure that she could handle it if she learned everything else.


	3. Chapter 3

They were almost two months into Darcy's internship when Jane's data began to change. Where her readings had been steady, now they were changing. Her readings were slowly growing in intensity, each one showing more activity than the last.

“We’re onto something big, Darcy.” Jane had told her, looking excited as she finally tore her eyes away from her charts. “I can feel it.”

“Me too.” Darcy muttered, fighting to keep herself from reacting to all of the ambient magic in the air. It was almost addictive, pulling her down and adding her power to it. If she had been any younger or less experienced, she would have drowned in it all. Whatever Jane had found was definitely big - the Old Religion was stirring, magic gathering directly where she and Jane were. Something big was coming, and she was very worried about what it was. She hadn't felt magic gathering like this since she was a child. "Something's coming, Janie.". 

"I think we need to call someone about this." Jane admitted, studying the printouts in front of her. She chewed on her hair absently, not even noticing when Darcy pulled it out of her mouth and replaced it with a pretzel. 

It was a few days later when Jane asked her to go to the airport and pick up her old mentor.

That was when she met Erik, and they both had to get used to Darcy hiding her magic again. They still worked together just as well as they did before he arrived, but now there was no magic in the air. Instead it was saved for little things - moving Jane's equipment and late night drunk magic. After Erik fell asleep, they would go up to the roof and drink, Darcy creating light shows and illusions until they fell asleep.

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Erik was far different from what she had grown used to with Jane. He was down to earth, whereas Jane had her head stuck in the stars. And while he didn't make her magic sing quite like Jane did, there was still something about Erik that drew her in. He reminded her of some of the druids that she had met - quiet and true, full of knowledge. It was almost grounding, in a way. In the end, she decided that it must have had something to do with the way that he acted as a sort of father figure for the both of them. Jane had cut off contact with her father years earlier, and it had been at least a decade since the last time that Darcy had seen her father face-to-face.

But Erik was their voice of reason - he helped Darcy make sure that Jane ate and took care of herself, and had Darcy take care of herself as well. He helped with the data, talking Jane through her theories and keeping the Science! going. He even tried to stop them when Jane came up with her brilliant idea to have them drive out into the middle of the desert at night in the hopes of getting caught in the middle of an astrological event.

Of course, they not only didn’t listen to him - they dragged him out there with them. Despite his protests, they loaded up Jane's equipment into the back of the pingauzer, determined to make it out before it started growing dark.

Darcy might have even helped him fight Jane on the matter, if it hadn't been for the way that the magic called to her. It sang in the back of her head, dancing with her heartbeat in a way that she hadn't felt in centuries.

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When Thor first fell out of the sky and landed in front of them, all of Darcy's senses went haywire. The man radiated magic like a creature of the Old Religion, but it wasn't any sort of magic that she was familiar with - it was darker than what she was used to, stained with blood and screams and pain. It took all of Darcy's willpower to keep from stunning him automatically, trying to give him a chance. After all, it wouldn't have been fair to attack someone for how they were born. It was only after he started talking like a raving lunatic that she started to get worried.

He was growling, lurching about like a drunken fool. And as pretty as he was, it was still worry some. “Hammer…” he mumbled, spinning in drunken circles. “Hammer!”

“Yeah dude, we can tell you're pretty hammered.” She quipped. She acted a lot more nervous than she actually was - it took a lot more than a man falling out of the sky to shake her. But then she remembered the mortal humans with her, and she got nervous. She would reveal her magic in a heartbeat if it meant keeping them safe.

“Father! Heimdall! I know you can hear me - open the Bifrost!” he commanded, and for the first time she really regretted leaving Adrastia behind at the lab. Just from what he had already said, she had a feeling that life was about to get a lot more complicated - from now on she’d be keeping her bothersome lizard close. Not that Adrastia would mind - if anything, she’d prefer it that way. But the lizard had always been overprotective.

He roared, and it scared her so much that her magic instinctively let out a pulse of lightning - like a taser, only slightly more effective. Jane wouldn't have batted an eye, but Erik would have, and that was more scrutiny than she needed. So she conjured a glamor, wrapping her hand around the taser that formed. Jane shot her a slightly skeptical look, but Darcy gave her a warning look that stopped her from asking anything. "What?" She protested when Erik shot her a look as well. "He was freaking me out!"

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Of course, Erik insisted that they at least drive the mean to the hospital - she would have been fine with leaving him in the middle of the desert if that meant staying away from him. Whatever he was, he was dangerous and she had to keep him away from her mortals as best she could.

Or at least, that was her opinion before the man opened his eyes, and her magic sang once more. Even as her heart sunk in her chest, she pulled him out of the hospital, dragging him out to the car with along with Jane and Erik. The whole time she was wondering what exactly she was supposed to do with an egotistical, bloodthirsty alien prince.

They made it back to the lab in almost record time.

Don't touch anything." Jane commanded, keeping an eye on Darcy as they went. She had been acting strange ever since Thor had fallen out of the sky. Granted, that was an explanation for her behavior in itself, but Darcy had been acting distinctly un-Darcy-like since the man had shown up. She was nervous, watching him like she half expected him to start swinging.

The blond man started to make his way around the lab, taking everything in. Until he stopped, his eyes narrowing in on the last member of their group. Adrastia sat at the back of the lab, her tank taking up a good quarter of wall space. It took her a minute to find 'Dras in the mess of the tank - the bothersome lizard liked to switch her size at random, rarely ever exactly the same size for more than a day at a time. She had been better about it since Erik had arrived, saving them from questions that neither was prepared for.

Thor poked at the lizard in it's tank, and Darcy watched carefully. The last person who had tried to mess with the tiny blue creature had never come back. But to her surprise, Adrastia just stuck out her tongue, mimicking the expression that the Asgardian was making. It was as close to a seal of approval as the creature ever gave. “‘Tis an ancient creature you have here.” he said, standing up to his full height.

Erik looked confused, while Darcy just walked over and held out her arm. Adrastia scaled it easily, settling in her hair like a little nest of some sort. She didn’t know why, but the way that Thor was eyeing her dragon made her wary. Enough people had given ‘Dras that sort of a look over the years for her to know that it usually didn’t mean anything good.

But obviously Thor noticed that he had done something to offend her, because he was quick to move on, turning his attention back to Jane.

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It took awhile for Darcy to realize why she got so inexplicably happy when she talked to Thor. It was only after Erik mentioned how nice it was to finally have someone else to speak Swedish with after so long.

It was Allspeak, he explained to her late one night as they sat on the roof, looking up at the stars. It automatically translated his speech into whatever language the person he was talking to spoke - but it also made his speech sound like whatever sounded the most comforting to the person he was talking to. He didn't even have the chance to ask her what she heard before she was on top of him, hugging him with all the strength that her body had.

Because how could she possibly explain that, to her, he sounded like a kingdom that had been lost to time centuries ago, and now just lived on in myths and legends? How could she tell him that now he reminded her of a knight of old, but when they first met she was reminded of stories that her papa had told her about a rude and arrogant prat who became one of the greatest Kings ever known.

And slowly, she watched as Thor transformed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are coming out quickly, but it probably will slow down again in a little bit.

She had known something was wrong the second that a truck drove by with a bunch of Jane's equipment in the back - that much was obvious. But she had thought it was just normal thieves until they got to the lab. Men in sharp black suits filled the lab, instantly reminiscent of every bad spy kibie she had ever seen in her life.

Her heart jumped into her chest as soon as the guy in the suit introduced himself as an agent of SHIELD. She was more than familiar with the agency - she had been around when it was founded. While her father had been on the front lines with the Commandos as their medic - hoping against hope that he would find Arthur somewhere out there - she had been working alongside Peggy Carter. While neither one of the immortals was mentioned anywhere in the SHIELD files or history, their influence was there - she still went to visit Peggy whenever she could, posing as her own granddaughter. Either way, she knew what SHIELD was about, and was determined to stay out of their way and under their radar… until she saw them pick up a very familiar box.

“Stop!” Darcy yelled, her vision going red as she watched a jack-booted thug grabbed an item that was definitely not part of Jane's research. Outside, thunder cracked in the sky, although there were no clouds to be seen.

Jane turned, her eyes narrowing when she saw what they were trying to take. That box was one of the only things that her intern had brought with her, and was ridiculously overprotective of it - and with good reason, the astrophysicist mused. While she had no idea what was actually inside of the box, she knew that it was immensely valuable. “Give that back to her.” She demanded, turning to the agent in charge. “It's Darcy's - it has nothing to do with my research.”

Agent Coulson looked over the carved wooden chest with a skeptical eye. It was three feet wide by two feet deep, carved with a coat of arms and images of dragons interlaced with flowers and fruit trees. The lid was polished to a sheen, so that the agent could see his reflection wavering in it. “What's in the box, Ms. Lewis?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at the intern. 

“I don't know.” She said, lying through her teeth. “It's a family heirloom. No one's been able to open it since forever.”. The agent didn't look convinced, and crossed to try and open the box himself. But Darcy was confident that the enchantments in place would hold - they had already lasted millenia, and weren't likely to break anytime soon. Anyone who wasn't keyed into the wards would never be able to open the ancient chest, even if they tried with the strength of a hundred gods.

Of course, it didn't open, and Darcy let her smugness show openly on her face. “Told you so.” she smirked. She felt tiny claws gripping her sweater and shifted slightly, allowing the lizard an easier climb up to her shoulder.

"What is that, Miss Lewis?" Agent Coulson asked, already looking resigned. In the few days he had been watching Jane Foster and her intern, he had already noted her personality. Darcy ran her fingertips over the lizard's head, trying to calm her down. Adrastia never liked being around new people, and always demanded to be carried around when new people were nearby. Ever since Thor had come into town, she had been extra protective - sleeping curled up at the foot of Darcy's bed, her size changed so she was the size of a large dog. 

"It's a lizard, Agent." She said, channeling as much 'duh' into her voice as she could. The little blue creature climbed up onto Darcy's shoulder, her tail wrapping around a lock of hair. Golden eyes stared at the SHIELD agent, taking him in. "You have seen lizards before, haven't you?"

For a second, his blank mask faltered and she saw just how irritated he was. Good.

"My apologies, Miss Lewis." Agent Coulson said, motioning to the agent who was holding her chest. He put it down, and the pounding in her heart slowed a bit. She wouldn't calm down completely until they left town, but for now she would just keep her family safe.

And as she watched Jane go toe-to- toe against the agent, she realized that that might be harder than she thought.

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Her magic was tingling - like an itch at the back of her skull. It had been going on for a few days, getting stronger or weaker depending on where exactly she was in the town. It was infuriating - like there was someone she was supposed to meet, and they were close. But for some reason they were staying out of her sight. It wasn't Thor - while her magic reacted around him, it reacted in the same way that it did to Jane. This was different, an unclaimed person. 

When she finally caved and called her father to ask about it, he advised her to be patient. His magic had responded the same way to her Uncle Lance, he said. When they had first met, Lancelot hadn't been ready to come to Camelot. He had wanted to stay, but hadn't been ready in his heart of hearts. It was only when he was ready that her father's magic had claimed him.

Despite having lived for as long as she had, Darcy still wasn't good at patience. But she would wait.

It all came to a head in the end - the ambient magic grew to a swell just as an Asgardian robot came falling out of the sky. Darcy didn't pay much attention to the actual fight - she used the extra magic around them as an extension of her will, keeping buildings up and getting as many people out as she could. She tried her best to stay out of the way of the SHIELD agents, keeping her head down even as she worked. Her magic swirled around her as she cast spell after spell.

Jane kept an eye on her, distracting the SHIELD agents from seeing her. For someone so powerful, Darcy didn't seem to know what discretion was. Jane was determined to keep her friend out of a lab at all costs.

8888

Thor knew that there was something different about his newest shield sister, Darcy, from the moment they had met. Not only had she taken him down with his own element, but there was an aura of power around her, so strong that he was surprised that the mortals around them didn't recognize it. There was an ancient sadness in her eyes when no one was looking - something too old for someone so young. He waited for her to approach him before he said anything. She waited until after the battle was over, and the Son of Coul was distracted by the clean-up.

"What are you?" He asked, voice low like a roll of thunder.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that, big guy?" She asked, and he turned around to face her. She held herself differently now that they were in private - with more confidence, the same sort of regal bearing that his mother, Queen Frigga, had. The shrunken dragon sat on her shoulder, eyes glowing slightly in the dark. Thor had recognized the creature for what it was as soon as they had met - needless to say, it had been a shock. They had thought that the creatures of the Old Religion had all died out on Migard.

“But I have already explained who I am.” he replied. “Therefore it is you who must return the favor.”

She studied him for a moment before she said anything. “I am who I am, and I am who I was, and I am who I always will be.” she said. Thor couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him then.

“Very cryptic, little lightning sister.” he replied, arms crossed over his chest as he studied her. “But would you grant me the favor of your name?”

She took a deep breath, steeling herself for his reaction. She had no idea if her family was as well-known on Asgard as it was on Earth. She dropped into a small curtsy, dropping her ‘college-student’ act for the first time in years. “Princess Darcy Ygraine Pendragon, of Camelot.” she introduced herself.

“Pendragon… the child of the Once and Future King.” Thor mused. “And yet you have magic.”

She waved her hand, and her eyes glowed gold as the desert air spun, creating a miniature sandstorm. “What gave me away?” She asked.

“It was said that the Pendragon line hated magic - they feared it.” Thor said, his voice grave. “How is it that you came to possess such gifts?”

She sat down, and he moved next to her. "My father was King Arthur Pendragon, as you know. But Papa… they called him Emrys."

"The sorcerer." Thor said gravely. He had heard stories of the pair, although he wasn't sure how much he believed. The stories of the Once and Future King, along with the sorcerer Emrys were the stuff of legend. But most Asgardians - himself included - had never believed Migardians to be capable of anything that those legends said. Now he watched the girl in front of him, eyes flashing gold as she played with her magic, conjuring little golden butterflies for the dragon on her shoulder to chase.

He smiled at her, and it hit her like a bolt of lightning. Her magic had started singing once more - Thor Odinson had been claimed as one of her people.


	5. Chapter 5

Thor left, and they settled back into their routine. Jane did her Science!, and Darcy made sure that she didn't pass out from exhaustion or hunger. Erik stayed with them for a while, before leaving to work with SHIELD on a top-secret project. He wouldn't say what it was, only that he would be out of contact for a while. 

Darcy had a feeling that what he wasn’t telling them was something important, but let it go - after putting a few protection spells on him. Nothing too invasive, just things that would make him slightly less susceptible to any other magic.

They had almost settled into everything again, when SHIELD showed back up - this time, with an invitation. Jane’s work was being taken far more seriously in the scientific community, now. Instead of being viewed as a crazed lunatic, now she was a slightly-less crazed lunatic who happened to be right. To celebrate that achievement, Jane had been asked to speak at a conference in Tromsǿ, Norway. 

They were bundled on a plane and headed to Norway before they knew what was happening. There was something going on, just from the way that all of the SHIELD agents were behaving. They were all on edge, moving around them with the same sort of alertness that she had seen back in Court, when they were having meetings with nobles from neighboring kingdoms and the Kings were unsure if they were friendly or not. The knights would stay close to her and her aunts, in case something went wrong. Something was coming, and the agents were trying to get them out of harm’s way before it could get to them.

“Janey, stay close.” Darcy whispered before they were even on the plane out of New Mexico. Adrastia was wrapped around her neck like a scarf, with a tiny cloaking spell keeping anyone from noticing that she was there. The dragon could feel it too - the sensation that something was coming was growing stronger by the day.

“Why?” Jane asked, her voice just loud enough to draw the attention of the SHIELD agents nearby. An elbow to the ribs brought her voice down a few notches. “Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know.” she admitted, shaking her head as they were lead through airport security. That seemed to be the only plus side of traveling with SHIELD - TSA had to leave them alone. “But something doesn’t feel right.”

Adrastia curled around her just a little bit tighter. “Something’s interfering with the Balance - its tipping the scales.” she whispered, her voice a soft growl in Darcy’s ear. Darcy nodded in agreement, ignoring the odd looks that it earned her from the agents.

“Basically, something big is coming.”

8888

Loki cast out his senses, using a combination of runes and spellwork to try and determine where his brother's woman was. It would be the perfect revenge against his oaf of a brother - taking out the mewling humans that he had befriended. He already had the old man, now he just needed the other two. He was closing in quickly, narrowing in on their location. A small smirk spread its way across his face, already feeling his victory. Maybe he would keep them instead of killing them, as the ultimate insult when he had taken over this tiny planet.

Brainwashed humans worked around him, moving as fast as they could while remaining quiet. Loki had threatened to remove their tongues if they distracted him from what he was doing. The mad Asgardian smiled as he locked in on where his oaf of a brother’s woman was hidden. It would only take a few more minutes to find her, and then he could strike.

_Not today, ice fucker._ The voice was loud, ringing around the room like a clap of thunder. He was flung out of his trance by a surge of power, sent sprawling halfway across the room. A burst of golden magic exploded - warm and welcoming, the opposite of the harsh magic that Loki had worked. 

For a second, Erik Selvig was in control of his own mind again. Not for long - but long enough to change the code he was writing just enough to include an override in Loki’s device. The gold magic that protected him was overwhelmed, and his eyes went an icy blue all over again. 

“What treachery is this?” Loki muttered, climbing to his feet. The magic was familiar - it was a type that he had seen in Midgard millennia ago. But the secrets had died out with the last of the High Priestesses, he had thought. There was no way that it was what he had thought it was.

Apparently, he had been wrong.

8888

"Oh no you don't, you mad fuck." Darcy growled from the other side of the world. Her eyes were closed as she fought against Loki, and Adrastia paced around the room. She had grown for the time being to better protect her charges - now around the size of a horse - and was on full alert. Luckily, there was no chance of either of them - sorceress or dragon - being discovered. As soon as they had arrived at the observatory in Tromso, they had been shoved into a lab the size of a closet and left to their own devices. It hadn't taken the two women long to figure out that no one at the observatory had even known that they were coming. Which made the information about a keynote speech that they had been given all the more confusing.

It took them even less time to put two and two together when they couldn't get a hold of their SHIELD contact. There was no texting, no calls, not even a voicemail. They were just stuck, waiting to find out from someone what was happening. Adding that - plus their recent relocation - into the magic that she could feel creeping ever closer, and something was coming.

"Darcy?" Jane asked, noticing her friend's position for the first time. She put down the papers she was sorting through, tucking her hair back behind her ears. She crossed the room, nudging past Adrastia to stand at her friend's side. Darcy didn't even open her eyes. "You okay?"

"Just peachy." She grunted, her teeth gritting together as she fought off what was going on. Her legs were crossed underneath her as she concentrated - it wasn't a move that she had to do, but she had learned long ago that the more relaxed she was, the easier certain magic was, particularly the more difficult magic. And fighting off another magic user's attack was something that she hasn't had to do for a long time.

“What's happening?”

Her hair sparked, golden flecks of pure energy popping in the dark brown locks. "Someone's trying to find us." She said. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that it's your boyfriend's brother."

Jane looked worried. “Can he find us?”

“If he does…” Adrastia growled, low in her throat. It had shocked Jane almost to the point of hysteria the first time that she had heard the dragon speak. It had been even worse the first time that she had woken up to a cat-sized dragon instead of her normal lizard size. But Jane had adjusted, and now she barely batted an eye.

Darcy shook her head, her eyes still closed behind her glasses. “Not anymore.” she said. “I cut off the signal.” With a final burst of magic, she opened her eyes, revealing the last bits of gold fading away. She climbed off of the desk that she was using, her hand brushing over Adrastia’s deep blue scales as she moved to her friend’s side. The dragon kept pace with her, and Darcy groaned - she would be insufferable for the next while until things went back to normal. A thousand years of peace, and now this.

“What?” Jane asked, drawing her attention back to what was happening around her.

“Its almost like hacking, but not.” Darcy explained, taking stock of the room around them. She hadn’t had time to do anything between being shoved into this broom closet of an office and the magic trying to hunt them down. “Normally, a computer puts out a signal of sorts - that can be traced if you know what you’re doing. But if you disconnect the signal, and manage to short-circuit their systems, then you can’t be tracked.”

“So we’re safe?” Jane asked, just to verify. The Einstein-Rosen bridges that she studied were similar enough to magic that it had confused Darcy for the first month that they worked together, but they weren’t at all similar. Jane was slowly learning about magic from Darcy, but there was still a lot left for her to learn.

“We’re safe…” Darcy began, absently flipping on the news. She faltered as soon as she saw what was on the screen. “or not.” New York was on fire - strange creatures falling out of the sky and attacking innocent people. She started going through her grimoire in her head, trying to figure out exactly what was attacking. It wasn’t the dorocha, the afanc, the fae… not pixies, not serkets. It wasn’t until she saw the portal in the sky that she realized these weren’t from Earth. The Balance was shrieking, crying out in pain. The Old Religion was screaming for vengeance.

“Holy shit. Are you seeing this?”

“In the name of the maiden…” she muttered, already diving for her phone. If she was seeing this in Norway, there was no doubt that someone else was seeing this too - and the Goddess forbid what would happen if he thought that she was stuck in the middle of it all. He picked up on the first ring, much to her relief. “Dad.”

“Hey, sprog.” Merlin said, his relief obvious in his voice. She relaxed slightly, just from hearing his voice - even centuries later she was still just a bit of a Daddy’s girl. “Are you alright? Where are you?”

“I’m fine - Jane and I are in Norway, and ‘Dras is on guard duty.” she told him, running her hand over the dragon’s scales. “Where are you?”

He shoved her worry aside. “Nevermind that - what are you doing in Norway?” the confusion evident in his voice. Darcy hated the cold, always had. For her to go to Norway voluntarily meant something huge.

“Making snow angels.” 

Her dad sighed. “No need to be sarcastic, Darcy.” his reprimand came with no heat at all and the ease of long-practice.

“Sorry.” she replied, not sounding the least bit like she meant it. A familiar hope was starting to build in her chest, one that she hadn’t felt since Germany had first invaded Poland and the world went to war. When Albion’s need is greatest, Freya had told them. Camelot had fallen, her land divided up as spoils of war. Wars had come and gone, battles were fought. Magic had gone away. But her father was still gone. “Is there any sign of him?”

“Not yet, sprog." Her father replied. He sounded exhausted, and she heard someone shouting in the background. “This might not be the right time…”

“It has to be.” she said stubbornly. “When Albion's need is greatest, right?”

“But this isn't Albion's darkest hour - it's New York's.” he said, his words as blunt as a practice sword. “Princess…”

"Don't call me that." She snapped, still keeping her eyes locked on the screen in front of her. Buildings were being torn down, and anyone who was foolish enough to leave the buildings that they had taken shelter in were almost immediately killed. Giant creatures that almost looked like whales swam through the air, foot soldiers jumping off of them and into the streets.

“Why not?” her father asked, drawing her back into their conversation. “It's what you are.”

“As long as Albion is gone - as long as Father is gone - I don’t want to be.” she shot back. “I just want to be normal.”

“You know, normal isn’t -”

“Normal isn’t a virtue, it rather denotes a lack of courage.” she repeated from memory, rolling her eyes. It had been fourteen years of her father telling her that phrase, she could say it in her sleep at this point. Every time that they had this argument, her dad pulled out that line. “I know. You know, most dads don’t quote Sandra Bullock movies.”

“Most daughters don’t want to only be ordinary.” her father pointed out. Someone on the other end of the phone called out to him, and he shot something back in response - he had come a long way from being a physician’s apprentice. “Sprog?” he asked, his voice hesitant.

“Yes?”

“Be safe, please.” her father commanded, his voice having the same soft weight to it that it always did. “May the goddess watch over you. Now, I’ve got to go - three more hypochondriacs just wandered into the A&E. Someone needs to tell them that what’s happening in the colonies doesn’t affect us over here.”


	6. Chapter 6

They were allowed to leave Norway a week after the Battle of New York - which was what all of the news channels were calling the invasion - had happened. Darcy was relieved, and ready to head back to New Mexico. While the heat was hell on her hair, it was still better than the cold. Adrastia had shrunk back down to her lizard-size and had curled up in her pocket, refusing to leave her side for the next few days. She hadn’t seen the dragon this protective since their time in Camelot - and during the witch hunts.

Back then, Adrastia had made Darcy work a glamour on her so that she looked like a guardian, protecting the young lady traveling alone. That spell alone had saved them more times than the sorceress would ever be willing to admit.

Darcy smiled at the little old lady who ran the diner as she made her way back to the lab, groceries weighing her down slightly. Adrastia was curled up around her neck, little puffs of smoke wafting up through her curls. Everyone had been glad to see them back - while it had taken them a while to be welcomed in this little town, once they were in there was no going back. Everyone knew everyone in a small town, after all.

“The least you could do is help me with these bags, you know.” Darcy muttered, squinting her eyes against the harsh glare of the sun.

Adrastia sighed. “But you’re doing such a good job on your own.” she yelped when Darcy reached up, flicking her snout.

Darcy shoved open the door with her shoulder, pushing her way through. “I’m home!” she called out. She put the bags down on a table, and then froze. Jane was running around the lab, grabbing as much of her data as she could. She was grabbing notebooks left and right, shoving them into a duffel bag. Darcy winced. That was going to be so much work fir her to fix - she had finally gotten those notes organized.

“Janey?” she asked, walking over to the frantic scientist. “What’s going on?”

“We’re leaving.” Jane said, continuing to scurry around. She moved over to one of the machines - one that Darcy had spent countless hours repairing - and unplugged it.

“Okay, where are we going - the garage, the pizza shop?” she suggested. This was nowhere near as bad as Jane could get - she had acted even more paranoid the last time that she had been forced to get her hair cut. It was a side effect from all the time spent around SHIELD, she had a tendency to think that everyone was after her work. “Maybe the mall so we can get you some new clothes.” she offered, praying that Jane would agree. She was almost out of plaid shirts, and she didn’t know what she would do after that.

But Jane shook her head. “New York.” she replied, not looking up from her papers.

Darcy froze, sure that her friend hadn’t actually said what she had just heard. Jane hated changing things up - there was no way that she would come up with this on her own. “We’re going where?”

“Stark Tower - well, Avengers Tower, now.” she amended. “With a salary for you, and grants for me. Here’s the offer.” Jane held out the paper, covered in multicolored scribbling and coffee stains. Darcy sighed. One of these days, she was going to convince Jane to look at a paper before she started scribbling on it. That would save them so much trouble in the long run.

“What?” Darcy asked, scanning through it. It was an offer from Stark Industries - signed by Pepper Potts herself - offering Jane a contract and a lab in Stark Tower. It gave funding and grants, and a salary for Darcy as well. 

“It’s all there.” Jane said, pointing it out to her.

Darcy shook her head. “No, that’s not it.” she said. “It’s just… you’re just okay with this? Miss ‘I can prove them all wrong’ on my own is just okay with going to New York City to work for someone else?” she arched an eyebrow, looking at her friend. Jane had another angle here, she could feel it.

The astrophysicist looked at her friend, her emotions plain on her face. “Darcy. They just had a massive wormhole open up right overtop of the city.” she reminded her friend, finally stopping in her movement. “The sort of readings that I could get from that would be… astronomical.”

“Was that a pun?” the other woman asked, rolling her eyes to try and hide her amusement. She loved Jane’s awful jokes, but would never let her friend know it - if she did, the jokes would never end. “Because I don’t approve. Fine. We’ll go. But you need to actually remember to pack clothes, not just pop-tarts and your machines.”

“I’m not that bad!”

“Janey, you forgot to pack underwear to go to Norway.” she took another look at the letter. “And you didn’t think to tell me about this sooner?”

“What are you so worried about?” Jane asked, scribbling down an equation before packing away the paper she had written it on. “We have plenty of time.”

“We’re supposed to leave on Thursday.” Darcy pointed out.

Jane rolled her eyes, slowing down long enough to talk to Darcy. “It’s only Friday, that gives us almost an entire week to pack.”

“Jane, Jane, love of my life and light of my existence - today is Wednesday.” Adrastia snorted a laugh, sending more smoke billowing towards the ceiling. “We leave tomorrow.”

“What?”

“This is why there’s a designated mail pile that you aren’t supposed to touch.” Darcy reminded her boss. As much as she loved Jane, she had a tendency to lose things. Adrastia jumped off of her shoulder, flying around the room towards the terrarium that they had set up in the back of the lab. That would have to be shrunken down for transport, Darcy noted. “And remember - ix-nay on the agic-may talk in front of other people.”

“I’m not stupid, Darcy.” Jane rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. How hard can it be to keep secrets?”

8888

The trip to New York wasn’t as bad as it could have been, Darcy mused. If they were anyone else, they would have never been able to pack up the entire lab and all of their personal belongings in time to make their flight. They wouldn’t have been able to take a plane at all - Jane was too protective of her machines to let anyone else take care of them. In the end, they rented a U-Haul for the equipment. It only took a few minutes to load it using her magic, and then she shrunk it down enough to just fit in her pocket. Jane laughed in disbelief when her friend showed her what she had done - the U-Haul looked more like a matchbox car than anything else.

After that, everything was a piece of cake. They made their flight with no issues, Adrastia hidden under an invisibility spell to keep her from being seen. She was still far too protective to let herself be more than a few feet away from Darcy at any given time - there was no way that she was staying in the cargo hold with the other animals being transported.

Her magic was itching - it had started almost the second that she had picked up the letter from Pepper. It was getting even stronger the closer and closer that they got to New York, and Darcy was nervous. There was a part of her that was certain it was just Thor and Erik, calling out to her. But there was a small part of her that was worried and excited in equal measure. Her fathers had met their knights in stages - it had been over a year since she had met Jane and Erik, after all, and while she had met Thor far more recently, maybe it was time for her to meet a few more.

It didn’t take long for them to make it out of the airport - but the New York traffic was like nothing she had ever seen before. And she had been at Woodstock. It only took a second to get the U-Haul back to it’s normal size, and then it was just getting the equipment to Stark Tower that was the issue.

8888

_“Hello, Dr. Foster and Miss Lewis.”_ a voice addressed them. Both ladies looked around, searching for the source of the voice. No one was there. “It is a pleasure to meet you both - Mr. Stark and Mr. Odinson have said much about you.”

Darcy kept looking around them. “Uh… hi?” she called out. “Mr. Ghost?”

_“I am not a ghost.”_ the ghost announced. _“My name is JARVIS, and I am the Tower’s AI.”_

“Okay, cool.” she thought she knew what was going on - she remembered when people had first started talking about HAL. “So you’re like a real-life Alfred, right?”

_“If that is the comparison you’d like to make, Miss Lewis.”_ the AI’s tone was much cooler than it was a moment earlier. Darcy winced. The last thing that she wanted was to make the guy mad at her - especially when he had the potential to actually make her life easier. _“This is your laboratory space, Dr. Foster - if you’d like, I can show you to your living quarters.”_

“Sorry, JARVIS.” she said, shrinking slightly as she looked towards the ceiling, searching for the camera. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

His response was much lighter than his previous tone. _“It’s quite alright.”_ he reassured. Adrastia climbed out of her pocket then, moving to see who exactly was talking. _“Unfortunately we were not made aware of your reptile companion, and have no suitable terrarium set up. One can be put together in the next day, however.”_

Darcy smiled - while he didn’t have a body and technically wasn’t human, he was sweeter than a lot of humans that she had met in her life. “It’s fine, JARVIS. She normally stays with me, anyway. Thank you for the offer, though.”

_“Of course, Miss Lewis.”_

Darcy made her way into the lab, watching the movers carry the last few boxes in. Once everything was put down, she turned to her boss. “Janey, go take a shower, then a nap please.” she instructed. “You haven’t slept in at least twenty hours.”

“But -”

Darcy shook her head, pointing towards the elevator. “Go!” she ordered. “I’ll handle setting everything up.”

“Are you sure?” Jane asked. She knew that Darcy knew what she was doing - she had helped to build most of the machines, and had then gone farther to fix them every time that they broke. But she was nervous - this was her first chance to be taken seriously since she had been in grad school. Everything had to go perfectly.

Darcy nodded, already rolling up her sleeves. “I’ve got this. Promise.” 

“Fine.”

“Hey, uh, Mr. JARVIS?” Darcy asked, looking at the ceiling. “Can you please let me know if she does anything other than shower and sleep? This place is a lot bigger than the one-bedroom we used to share, and I’m worried that if I let her out of my sight she’ll sneak off to do Science.”

_“Of course, Miss Lewis.”_

She waited until Jane was in the elevator and the doors had shut behind her before turning to study the room. The lab space was almost the same size as what they were used to in New Mexico, just a lot nicer and cleaner. That made things easier on her - it meant that all of the machines could basically just go into the same spots that they had been in before. All of the boxes had already been brought up to the new lab, and so all that was left to do was unpack the boxes and reassemble any equipment that had been disassembled for the journey. That would be simple enough - there was only one problem.

There was a lot to set up, and she knew that she didn’t have much time - Jane would sleep for maybe ten hours, and then she would want to start in on Science. Which meant one thing - magic. If she used her magic to set up the lab, everything could be done with time to spare. JARVIS, is there a way to turn off the cameras?* She asked cautiously, eyeing the bug-eyed lenses hanging from the ceiling. If there wasn't a way to do it, that would be fine - she would just wait for Thor to get back from whatever it was that had called him away so suddenly. 

But while he sounded hesitant, JARVIS answered. _"It is possible, but I would not recommend doing so." _The AI replied.

“Can you do it anyway?”

_"Yes, Miss Lewis.”_

8888

Once the cameras were off, it only took a few minutes to get everything unpacked and into its proper places. After that it was time to start putting everything together - unfortunately, she couldn’t use her magic for that. She had learned almost as soon as the computer was invented that circuitry and magic didn’t mix. This was one of those things that she had to do by hand.

She was halfway under one of the machines - she was pretty sure that it was the atmospheric equalizer, but wouldn’t know for sure until it was all put together - when she heard the doors open. “We’re closed for business!” Darcy called out.

“Yeah, well I’m here anyway.” she knew that voice - the sound of that voice had her almost hitting her head off of the bottom of the machine. “Lewis, right? You’re Foster’s assistant?”

She rolled out from under the machine and climbed to her feet. “Yeah.” Darcy nodded, wiping the grease off of her face. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Stark.”

“Call me Tony, kid." The man said, barely looking up from the tablet in his hands. "Listen, J let me know that you turned off the cameras in here." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Wanna explain that?"

Darcy shrugged, wiping off her hands on her jeans as she stood up. "Janie's particular about her machines. Especially after the jack-booted thugs in New Mexico." She lied.

While Tony didn’t seem particularly inclined to believe her, he also didn’t say anything about it. “Right. Finding everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s great.”

Something blue flashed out of the corner of his eye, and Tony turned his head. There. Something was crawling on top of one of the machines. “Uh, what is that?”

“A lizard.”

He waved that off. “No, I get that.” he said, sounding exasperated. “But why is it here?”

“She goes everywhere with me.” Darcy said, moving over to pick up the creature. “But if you’re looking for Jane, she’s not here. I sent her to bed.”

“Why?” Tony Stark asked. He looked confused - like he had never heard of anyone doing that before. 

“Because she hasn’t slept in almost twenty-four hours, and sleepy science leads to mistakes.”

Tony nodded - he didn’t understand but if it worked for them he wouldn’t judge. He grabbed the stack of papers that Pepper had handed him. “Don’t sign that!” Darcy said, grabbing the paper out of his hands.

“Huh?” he asked, looking at her incredulously. The pen was still in his hand, poised to sign. It was just a contract - it had already been gone over by the legal department, all that was needed was his signature. There shouldn’t have been any problems with it. “Why shouldn’t I?”

“I just saw it…” she poured over the paper, looking for what she had seen out of the corner of her eye. She knew it was there, hidden in lines of fine print.

Tony looked at her skeptically. “Listen kid…”

“There!” she pointed to the line in the contract, “A hidden clause.” she had gotten very good at spotting them over the years - clauses in treaties and peace agreements that would allow the other side more leeway than she wanted them to have. This was one of them - a tiny change in phrasing, something that could have been easily missed.

Tony looked at the paper that she had snatched away from him, “One that would have allowed them to sell their inventions to the top military bidder, going against their SI contract.” he noted, a grim look on his face. The repercussions from that would have been devastating. But he turned to smile at her, “Nice catch, kiddo. Can’t wait to see what else you can do.”

8888

After that, it only took a day for Darcy to be appointed as 'Head of Lab’. There was a moment where she wondered if that was like Captain of the Guard before she realized that it was the same job she had working for Jane, only now she got paid. It wasn't even as though she needed the money - she had lived for over a thousand years by then, and most of that had been spent just letting money collect interest.

But normal people needed money, she reminded herself. It would have looked far too strange if she refused it - strange enough that they might have started investigating her. And while she was slowly beginning to collect the rest of the Avengers as she met them, it was still too soon to tell any of them that she had magic of her own. After all, they had only recently fought Loki. And while Thor and Jane were both fine with her magic, she wasn’t sure if anyone else would be.

So far, it had been almost a month since then, and things had been running as smoothly as they could. The labs at SI were hectic on a good day, and downright dangerous on a bad one. “Alright JARVIS, give me an update on the Scientists Three.” Darcy asked as she walked into the labs for the morning, using the nickname that Thor had coined for them.

_“Dr. Foster has eaten two pop tarts in the last six hours, while Dr. Banner has eaten takeout from the Kanki Grill in the past three. Sir has not eaten in the past twelve.”_

Darcy nodded, taking a sip of her coffee. “Right - so lunch and then naptime, got it.”

_“It would be much appreciated, Miss.”_

“I’ve got your back, buddy.” Darcy reassured, eyes on the ceiling as she dodged a group of interns. “Also, have you seen Adrastia?”

It took a second for him to answer, and once he did he sounded surprised. _“She appears to have made a nest out of Dr. Foster’s hair.”_ he said.

“Huh.” she was more than a little bit surprised - Adrastia was picky when it came to who she curled up with. 

_“Is there a problem, Miss Lewis?”_ JARVIS asked, sounding concerned.

“No, JARVIS. No problem.” she slowed down once her scientists were in sight - once she stepped foot in the labs, the day had begun. “Right. Let’s do this.”

8888

“Drink this.” a voice said, and a foul-smelling container was shoved under Tony's nose, making him gag slightly. It smelled like one of his smoothies that Pepper insisted weren't real food, but with an additional ingredient of smelly gym socks.

“I don't think so, shortstack. I don't like to be handed things, especially not things that smell like they've been up someone's butt.” Tony said, making a face as he shoved it away.

“You're having nightmares, right?” She asked, and he froze. She kept talking, ignoring the pain in his eyes for a second - if she was right, she had a way to help fix that. “You remind me of my father after he was at war. He wouldn't sleep, didn't eat much.”

“I'm fine, Lewis.” He said after a minute, taking a second to mentally catalogue the new information about the girl in front of him. 

“Drink it.” she repeated, pushing the bottle closer before walking away. She could give him the bottle as many times as she wanted - it was up to him to decide whether or not he would actually do as she asked and drink it.

He just stared at the bottle in front of him for a minute - it was a reused water bottle, filled a quarter way with a dark blue liquid. “You like taking care of people, don’t you?” he asked, looking after her.

“Someone’s got to keep things running around here.” she replied, not stopping for a second. “And when Pepper isn’t around to be the voice of reason, that job falls to me.”

“Doesn’t seem very fair to you.” he pointed out.

She turned to look at him then, her eyes impossibly old as she seemed to stare into his very soul. “It’s all about balance, Stark.” she said. “Everything is.” she blinked, and whatever he had seen disappeared. “Now drink that, before I make you.”

He snorted - couldn’t help it, really. The mental image was too much for him. “I’d like to see that.” 

“No, you wouldn’t.” 

He thought back to the story Thor was always telling them - of Darcy knocking him out with a taser after knowing him for only a second. “Fine.” he admitted, pulling the top off of the bottle. “Just to keep you on your toes, you know - it wouldn’t be fun if I made you work for it all the time.” with that, he downed the bottle.

“Whatever you say, Stark.” Darcy laughed. “Now go find a bed before that kicks in and you fall on the floor.”

8888

Exactly thirteen hours had passed before she heard the sounds that she associated with Tony Stark in the morning - the drip-whir of the coffee machine and the sparking of a welding torch. She would give him about five minutes, she thought to herself, until his curiosity got the better of him and he would have to find out about what she had given him.

“Ok, shortstack.” She smirked, checking the time on her phone. He had made it six minutes - she was impressed. “I'll bite. What was that?”

“Sleeping draught.” she replied, too busy trying to translate Jane's handwriting into something actually readable to really pay attention to what she was saying. If she had been paying attention, she would have called it literally anything else - would have made up a name for it before calling it what it really was. Because if there was one thing that she had learned since she had started working for Tony - even if she was basically a glorified babysitter - was that Tony Stark and magic did not mix.

“Sleeping draught?” Tony asked, incredulous. He looked at Darcy as though she had personally offended him. “Like some kind of potion?”

“Basically.” she nodded, shrugging slightly. “It’s an old family recipe - goes back centuries.”

“What, insomnia?” Tony asked, baffled. “Is that hereditary?”

“Nope.” Darcy shook her head. “Taking care of people just runs in the family.” Before she had a chance to say another word, her phone rang. “Hang on, I have to take this. Hey Dad, what’s up?” she asked, walking away. Despite her precaution, Tony could still hear the man on the other end of the phone.

“You would not believe what I’ve just found -” he began, already sounding excited. 

Darcy was already shaking her head. “If it requires yet another storage unit, I don’t care.” she shot back, heading for her office.


	7. Chapter 7

Things were as quiet as they ever got - there hadn’t been any calls for the Avengers, no big explosions in the labs. Natasha and Clint had been gone on a mission for almost a week, and neither Jane or Darcy had met Captain America yet. He hadn’t been seen since the Battle of New York - Tony had told them that he was traveling the United States, trying to find out if there was anything left that he knew. Personally, Darcy doubted it - she had been around a long time, but the United States was a big place. It was hard to find any one thing here, let alone something that you might have possibly known seventy years ago. 

The Scientists Three were at work, each of them occupied in their own research. She wasn’t really sure what any of them were working on. That wasn’t important to her job - as long as she understood it enough to know when things were about to explode, everything worked out fine. But the papers in her hand weren’t going to work out - not for the one who had sent them, at least. “Are you kidding me? This is ridiculous!” she glared daggers at the papers in front of her - a cease and desist order from General Thaddeus Ross concerning the Avengers Initiative, with special notes mentioning the Hulk.

“What’s wrong, shortstack?” Tony asked, looking away from what he was working on. She didn’t notice - too busy glaring at the paperwork she was holding. 

Bruce tried next. “Darcy?” he asked, his voice quiet.

She looked up, though. It was rare for Bruce to ask her for anything, which just meant that she was more likely to respond when he did. “Hmm?” she realized that she had reacted out loud, and shook her head. “Oh, yeah. Everything’s fine, Bruce.” she said quietly. Her eyes glowed - just enough that she had to quickly hide behind her bangs. Across the room, Adrastia perked up in her tank. Her tongue flickered out, scenting the air and sensing the sorceress’s irritation. She crawled up a branch, moving as close to the side of the tank as she could before leaping, catching the edge. There had been a long time when she would have just flown out of the tank to land on her princess’s shoulder. Now there were too many cameras everywhere - it would have been more than a little suspicious, and far too easy to catch on film.

“Darcy!” Jane said, working to hide her amusement.

“Yeah, Janey?” Darcy asked, not looking away from the papers in her hand. A wind was starting to kick up behind her, ruffling data and making her hair fly out behind her.

Jane smiled, but was nervous - whatever she was looking at wasn’t good news. “You’ve, um, got something in your eye.” she pointed out.

She worked to relax herself, her progress noted by the wind around her calming itself. The gold in her eyes slowly bled out, returning to their natural blue.

She stuck the paperwork from General Ross into Tony’s stack of paperwork - he would be able to handle anything that the insane old soldier threw at them better than she could. And if she silently cast a few extra protections around the physicist, then that was just to make herself feel better about things.

8888

The best way to start the day was with a twenty mile jog around Manhattan, Steve had found. It was enough to wake him up and to give himself time to mentally prepare for the day, along with getting his body ready for any training that Romanoff or Barton might want to do.

He ignored the stares and whispers that followed him as he made his way through the lobby of Stark Tower. It was only his second day there, he reasoned. Eventually, the SI employees would get used to seeing him around. If they could get used to a man who occasionally became a giant green rage monster and a literal god - not to mention their boss - they could handle a man out of time.

A few months had passed since the Battle of New York, and he had finally returned after his cross-country tour. Upon his return to the city, he learned that Stark had set up rooms for them all - entire floors of his tower - to live in. He had even brought in a few extra people, friends of Thor. Steve hadn't met them yet, but he had only heard good things about them so far.

He heard someone shouting over at the desk, and slowed down. Turning in the direction, he saw a man arguing with the woman at the desk, waving a box around in the air. “Please, I just need to deliver this!” he said.

The woman behind the desk didn’t even bat an eye. “Sir, I’ve already told you you can’t go up there.” she said, still typing away on the computer in front of her. “Now please leave before I call security.”

Steve made his way up to the desk, keeping a careful eye on the situation. “What seems to be the trouble?” he asked, drawing everyone’s attention. He shifted, immediately awkward from the attention - even after all his time as the Army’s poster boy, he still felt uncomfortable in front of a crowd. “Is this man bothering you, miss?” 

The man looked at him - bright blue eyes met the Captain’s. “Look, I don't want to be a pain.” he said, and his accent was familiar. In fact, there was something very familiar about the man in general. He looked a lot like someone Steve had worked with during the war - the medic for the Howling Commandos, Matthew Elsing-Penderson. They had all called him ‘Matty’ - they had tried calling him Penderson, but he had quickly put an end to that. He was what kept them all alive, with his knowledge of herbs when they ran out of bandages and vaccines, and awful sense of humor. 

Steve shook his head - Matty would be almost ninety by now, not still looking as young as he had during the war.

The secretary shook her head, pulling him back to the present. “Not at all sir, he was just leaving.”

“Would you mind delivering this for me?” the man asked, holding out the package. “I’d take it up myself, but security said that I couldn’t take it.” he snorted a laugh. “Apparently the post is a security risk.”

Steve smiled, taking the package from the man. “Of course, not a problem.”

The man looked relieved, his face splitting into a boyish grin that made him look years younger. “Thank you.” With his errand done, the man waved goodbye at the security guards that had come to collect him, walking out of the building himself.

Steve got into the elevator, moving towards the buttons before remembering that there weren’t any. He looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember exactly what Stark had told him about using the elevator. “Uh, JARVIS?” he asked.

_“Yes, Captain Rogers?” _

“Take me to the common area, please, JARVIS.”

_“Right away, Captain Rogers.”_ the AI replied.

8888

“Is there a Darcy Lewis here?” Steve asked, struggling to read the messy scrawl on the package.

“Who’s asking?” Someone called back, and he looked up. A curvy brunette woman stood at the stove, pouring batter on the griddle in front of her. Agents Barton and Romanoff sat at the counter - Barton was practically falling headfirst into what looked like an entire pot of coffee.

He didn’t give his name, not wanting to see what the reaction might be. “I’ve, ah, got a package for you.”

“Brilliant. Who's it from?” Darcy asked, not even turning around from flipping a massive stack of pancakes. Steve frowned when he saw what she was wearing - it was a long, flowing nightgown intricately embroidered with purple aster. It looked old, older than even he was. She kept having to push up the sleeves of the gown to keep them from falling into the pancake batter, but it didn't seem to bother her.

“Martin Emmett?” Steve replied, reading the messy scrawl addressing the side of the large box. 

She dropped the spatula as she spun around, and he could have sworn that the package in his hands tried to jump out of them. She didn't even seem to notice him, too focused on the box that he held. She hurried over, making grabbing motions with her hands as she walked. 

“Give it here.” she said, practically yanking it away. Setting it down on the counter, she sliced the package open.

Steve responded to the command in her tone, falling back on her military training. “Yes, ma’am.” 

“Janey, look what Papa sent!”. The young woman said excitedly as she tore into the box. She pulled out boxes of tea, opening each one and smelling the leaves. Her eyes closed as she breathed in the aroma, a small smile spreading across her face. “Oh, this is great - I haven’t had this blend in years.” 

“Did he send any more of that chocolate that he sent last time?” another voice spoke up, and Steve almost jumped. He had missed the other woman completely in his first glance around the room - the pixie-like woman had been buried beneath a mound of papers.

“Yup, right here.” the woman said, holding up a dark-colored box. She tossed it across the room - Barton tried to intercept it, but it sailed past his fingertips and into the other woman’s hands.

She finally turned around to thank him, and her mouth fell open slightly when she saw exactly who she had been talking to. “By all the knights…” she muttered under her breath. He wouldn't have heard her if it wasn't for his serum-enhanced hearing, and he couldn't help but wonder what that meant. “Hello, soldier.” She purred, cocking a hip as she eyed up the supersoldier with a shit-eating grin. “You hungry? I know I am.”. 

She was short and curvy - built like a pin-up model from his day. Dark curls fell loose over one shoulder, and blue eyes took him in behind narrow glasses. She pulled her robe tighter around her, holding it closed with her arms.

Clint snickered into his coffee pot even as Steve began to blush. He knew flirting - he had seen Peggy use it to get information from Nazis in the war. Of course, she would always bash in their heads if they got too handsy with her. But this was different, in a way. He had never seen someone be so… forward. Not only that, but she looked familiar.

“Do I know you?” he asked, voice quiet.

But she shook her head, giving him a little smile. “Unless you’ve spent a lot of time in the desert recently, I doubt it.”

But Clint was still stuck on one detail. “Darce, I thought you said your dad died.” Clint asked cautiously. It normally wasn't something that he would have dared to ask, but there was an honest chance that someone had mind-controlled the woman into thinking that they were her dad. People would do strange things to get close to an Avenger.

It wouldn't have even been the strangest thing to happen in the tower that week.

“Father died when I was about ten.” Darcy confirmed, nodding her head. “But Papa travels a lot now, so he sends me things that he finds. I've been moving around so much with Jane lately that he hadn't sent me anything. I guess he found out that I have a more permanent address again.”

“How’d he find out?” Natasha asked, noticing how she phrased her response. 

But the brunette just smiled, wiggling her fingers in the air. “Magic.” she laughed. She dug through the box for another moment before pulling out an envelope sealed with wax. Taking a second to carefully peel off the seal and set it aside, she cracked open the letter and started to read.

“He's a medieval history professor.” she said, noticing the way the spies were studying the wax seal. She shrugged, trying to play it off like it was no big deal. “Likes old-fashioned things.”

Natasha nodded, picking up the seal and playing with it. Her fingertips ran over the dragon embossed into the dried wax, smiling softly at the whimsy of it.

“I still can’t believe I haven’t met him yet.” Jane said, as she pulled a container of tea out of the box. She studied the label on it for a moment before replacing it in the box and pulling out another. 

Darcy shrugged, her eyes still going over the letter - this time more slowly than the first. “He’ll pop up eventually.” she mused. “He always does.”


	8. Chapter 8

The letter came in the mail, addressed Harry Potter-style:

_Ms. Darcy Lewis_  
_The Second Bedroom on the 64th Floor_  
_Stark Tower_  
_Manhattan, NY_

It was a joke that the father-daughter duo had picked up after the books had become popular back in the nineties. They had both loved the books, mainly for the inaccuracies in the magic that the woman had written. Darcy especially loved the way they swore in the books - it was always guaranteed to make her father turn bright red. One day she had sat down and put everyone that she remembered into their respective houses after having decided that Rowling got it wrong. The resulting list had made her and Adrastia laugh more often than not.

Every once in a while, their paths would cross - Darcy was always one to settle down - moving to a new city and changing her identity only when people started to get suspicious that she wasn’t aging. Her father was a nomad, wandering from place to place ever since the fall of Camelot. He would age himself with potions when he wanted to, most of the time staying at the same age he had always been. And every so often, their paths would cross, and they would meet up for a day or two.

The letter had come almost a month after they had first moved into the Tower - three weeks after the first package had arrived. All that it held was a location and a time - a little tea shop in Soho that had been there for about a century. Darcy was out of the Tower the next morning by eight, leaving the Scientists Three in the capable hands of JARVIS for the day. She had left him with a long list of instructions, and Adrastia had promised to keep an extra eye on them for her. The dragon might not have understood her fondness for the strange humans, but she did know her love for Jane. She even shared it, to some extent.

With that taken care of, Darcy made sure that at least JARVIS and Steve knew where she was going - she didn’t want to be the reason that the Avengers went mad if they suddenly couldn’t find her. She made her way to the shop that her father had indicated in his letter, taking care to make sure that she wasn’t being followed. Natasha had been eyeing her on her way out the door, and this wasn’t the sort of reunion that she wanted the spy watching. It would lead to more questions than answers on her part, and that wasn’t something that she currently felt like dealing with. She was playing a dangerous game at the moment - if she played her hand too soon and told the team about her magic and who she really was, she ran the risk of backlash because they were still scared of Loki. If she waited too long, they could turn on her for lying. It was a delicate balance - one that she had walked before. Now she would have to walk it again - but that would come later.

She was practically bouncing in her seat as she waited, a cup of tea in hand. Every time someone new came through the door she’d look up, expecting to see him coming in but knowing it was too early. She would feel her father coming before she saw him. Finally, she felt it - the brush of magic against her own. It pulled hers in, enveloping her in it - like returning to like. His magic had always felt like home to her, no matter how many centuries had gone by. She looked up just in time to see him come in, eyes glowing slightly as his magic responded to hers. A dark blue hoodie covered his hair, a brown leather jacket over top of that. A red scarf was wrapped loosely around his neck. He barely looked any older than she did - one of the perks of being unable to actually age. “Hey, sprog.” Merlin Pendragon whispered, pressing a kiss into his daughter’s hair as he wrapped her in a hug. 

“Hi Papa.” she sighed, breathing in the familiar scent that surrounded her. It didn’t matter how many centuries had passed, her father still smelled like old parchment, medicinal herbs, and the tang of magic. It was as comforting as the slip into the old tongue - the language of Camelot and the druid people.

“Look at you, sprog!” Merlin said, settling down into the chair across from her. “A modern-day princess.” he teased. “My little dragon, head of SI R&D.” The grin that he gave her was slightly goofy but full of pride. She laughed, blushing slightly.

“It’s more of an honorary title, Papa." She said, taking a sip of her tea. "Tony and Pepper wanted me to have it.". 

Merlin studied her carefully, paying close attention to her magic. "Your magic is singing, isn't it?" He asked, a small smile on his face as he waited for her to verify his suspicions. She nodded, and he practically lunged across the table in his hurry to hug her. "Congratulations, sprog." He whispered. "I knew they would be coming soon."

She shook her head, putting her mug back down. “I just still can’t believe that they’re here.” she murmured. It was something that she had been struggling with ever since she met Jane - the idea that her destiny was fast approaching. And now, she had met the rest of her group - each of the Avengers was one of hers. Nothing felt more right than when they were all at the Tower, safe and together.

Both of them paused when someone brought over Merlin’s order - she had put it in for him when she arrived, asking for them to make it whenever he got there. Her father waited until they were out of earshot before continuing - it was almost improbable that anyone would be able to understand them, as they were speaking in the old tongue of Camelot, but some habits were hard to bury. “Have you told any of them yet?” he asked, taking a sip of his tea. “About your magic, I mean.”

“I told Jane, but that’s it. And she doesn’t know anything about you or Father.”

She thought that he would be happy with her answer - both of them knew how hard it was to tell people the truth about them. But he just shook his head. “You should tell them, Darcy.” he said softly, taking another sip of his tea. “The sooner the better.”

Her laughter rang out across the tea shop, earning more than a few looks their way. “There’s no way they would believe me!” she protested, momentarily shocked enough that she slipped back into English. One look from the table next to theirs had her switching back - they never knew who could be listening, after all. “‘Oh hey, just so you know I’m an immortal sorceress who has literally been around since the time of King Arthur. In fact, he was my father. My other father is Merlin, who is also still alive.”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Merlin laughed. “Yeah, they might find that a little hard to believe.” he admitted, before trying to change the subject. “Where’s Adrastia, I have a message for her from Kilgharrah.” the oldest of the dragons wasn’t there - he preferred to be on his own, and always had. If needed, he would show up, but he had never been as protective as the other dragons.

She shrunk down in her chair just a little, squirming under her father’s stare. All of a sudden she felt five years old again, in trouble for running off into the lower town and hiding from her tutors. “Not… here?” Darcy said, cracking half of a smile in an effort to soothe the temper that she knew was coming.

"Darcy Ygraine Pendragon, where is your dragon?" Her father asked, scowling at her.

She scowled right back, refusing to let him make her feel like she was back in her first century any longer. “At the Tower.” she said, already preparing herself for a lecture. When she was a kid, it had been her Father that was the bigger worrywart between her parents. Nowadays, that duty fell to her Dad.

“Why isn’t she with you?” Merlin asked, looking worried. “One of these days you’re going to get into trouble that you can’t get out of on your own, and she won’t be there to help you.”

“I’m almost a thousand years old, Dad.” Darcy shot back, rolling her eyes. “There’s not much more trouble that I could possibly manage to get into.”

He actually laughed out loud at that, eyes dancing. “I don’t believe that for a second - you’re your father’s daughter, through and through. You could find trouble in an empty room.”

Darcy snorted. “Pot, meet kettle.”

“The solstice is coming soon.” Merlin said, changing the subject again. His eyes flashed gold and his cup refilled itself.

Darcy nodded, her eyes flashing as well - they would find the extra money in the till to pay for her father’s drink. “I know.”

Do you have a way to celebrate it here? It might be hard in the middle of the city.

“There’s going to be a bonfire in Central Park.” she nodded - she had started to look up the different celebrations the second that she found out they were moving to the city. “I’ll go there, then break off for a bit and do the proper rituals.”

Merlin nodded, a small smile breaking out on his face. “Good. Do you have everything you might need?” he asked. “Candles and herbs?”

“Yup.” she nodded even as she was mentally going over her stores. She had an entire cabinet in her apartment that was strictly dedicated to any herbs and medical plants that she needed. “I’m running low on verbena and calendula, though. Jane and I are looking for places to find some.”

He thought about it for a second, running through options in his head. “Try the apothecary in the Village - I'm pretty sure it's still there, at least.”

She was about to continue the conversation when her phone went off with the special ringtone that she had set for JARVIS. She pulled out her phone, already ready to deal with whatever her scientists had come up with. “I’m going to kill them - all I wanted was a day off.”

“No you didn’t.” her father said, rolling his eyes. “If you did, you wouldn’t have told them where you were going.” he got up from his seat, moving to her side of the table and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Go back to work, sprog. Your destiny awaits.” he teased. And with that, he disappeared.

8888

Darcy tossed and turned, her eyes scrunching up as she fought the demons in her head. 

_She could smell the smoke from burning buildings, the rich iron scent of blood hanging thick in the air. She was ten years old all over again, Aunt Gwen guiding her by the hand as they made their way out. Aunt Morgana was leading the way, her face illuminated by the torch she carried. She whimpered when she heard the sound of enemy soldiers racing by, and Guinevere was quick to try and calm her. The Saxons had invaded - her fathers and uncles had left, planning to go to Camlann to try and cut off the invading army before they could get any closer. Only a few guards had remained behind with the rest of the court. That had proved to be a mistake - as the majority of the Saxons attacked on the main front, the rest of their army had stayed behind, going the long way around to attack the citadel._

_Gwen and Morgana had been woken up in the middle of the night by Aithusa, the dragon twitching nervously even as she was ready to defend them. As soon as they saw her face, they knew what was going on - the Saxons had breached the castle. They made their way through the hidden tunnels in the castle, first on their way to the princess’s room. Adrastia and Darcy were waiting, curled up in the bed. Adrastia had grown to be the same size as her charge, and growled threateningly as soon as the hidden door started to creak open. _

_“It’s alright, it’s just us.” Morgana said, stepping into the room. Gwen came in behind her, a sword clutched in one hand._

_“Auntie Gana?” the little girl asked, her voice shaking. “What’s happening?”_

_Morgana hurried over to the bed, keeping an ear out for any sounds in the corridors. “We have to get out of here. Quickly, Darcy - get into the tunnels.”_

_She was nervous, but climbed out of the bed and followed her aunts. She would be safe with them, she knew - Morgana and Gwen had both been responsible for training the new knights on occasion. They could more than hold their own._

_Darcy cried out when she stumbled, tripping over something on the ground. “Shhhh, Darcy-Lou.” Gwen whispered, running a hand through her niece's hair. She tried to smile, being as reassuring as she could given the circumstances. “Everything will be okay, but you have to stay quiet.”_

_They had almost made it out of the tunnels - to the edge of the citadel - when both sorceresses froze. Guinevere froze with them, but her pause was one of uncertainty - she had no idea what was happening._

_Darcy felt the wave of magic roll over her - Morgana winced next to her, folding in on herself from the sheer emotional pain that rolled over them. It was heartbreak and despair - pure, unadulterated grief. And while there were several sorcerers on the battlefield, fighting against the Saxons, only one of them was strong enough to have been the cause of that wave. _

_“Morgana?” Gwen turned to her wife, holding her sword just a little bit tighter. Her eyes scanned the area, looking for enemy soldiers. “Morgana, what’s wrong?” The dragons moved just a little bit closer._

_Morgana looked up at her wife, her eyes wide with fear and pain. “Arthur is dead.” she whispered._

Darcy lurched up in her bed, hair flying and tears streaming down her face. A scream was on the tip of her tongue, but she managed to swallow it back before it was let out. Adrastia flew over from the other side of the room, growing in size until she could curl up like a cat in her princess’s lap. 

The heat of the dragon on her lap helped to bring her back to reality. Her hand moved unconsciously to the darker colored scales that went down the middle of Adrastia’s back, running her fingers over them in a soothing gesture. “Did you have the dream again?” the blue dragon asked, her voice rumbling.

“Yeah.” she pushed her hair back behind her shoulder, just focusing on keeping herself calm. “It keeps getting more… real.”

Adrastia shifted, not sure how to respond to that. “It was real.” 

“I know that.” she nodded, finally feeling her heartbeat begin to slow back down. “But this felt real, like I was actually back in Camelot.”

“I don’t get it.” Not for the first time, Darcy found herself laughing just a bit at how much slang the dragon had picked up over the centuries. If Kilgharrah could hear her now, he would have pitched a fit.

“I don’t know how else to explain it.”

Adrastia huffed, tiny plumes of smoke coming from her nostrils as she did. “Well, we’ll figure it out.” she mumbled, curling up just a little bit tighter. “We always do.”

8888

She left Adrastia in her bedroom, fast asleep - the blue dragon didn’t get enough sleep as it was. The last thing that she wanted to do was keep her up all night just to sit and think about the past, they did that often enough on a regular basis.

So she grabbed a suitable substitute for the living dragon and left her bedroom.

Darcy sat in the common area, gently running her fingers over the worn leather wings of the stuffed dragon. After millenia, the only thing still holding the toy together were the preservation spells on it. They had to be recast every year, but it was worth it to hold onto the one piece of her childhood that she had left. She still had her jeweled headbands from the roaring 20s, an endless supply of lipstick from the 40s, heels and furniture from Victorian times. She had entire storage containers filled with artifacts from the different lives that she had led over the millenia, each one under a different name. But she only had a few things left from her very first life - a few pieces of jewelry and a family portrait that she could never get restored. After all, she mused, giggling to herself, who would ever believe that the painting of her parents trying to be stoic and serene - and failing miserably while she yanked on Father's beard - was of the last ruling family of Albion.

“Penny for your thoughts?” A voice asked from behind her, and she jumped. She called her magic to her fingertips even as she whirled around, ready to blast whoever had snuck up on her at three in the morning. 

Captain America froze, putting his hands up in the air in the international sign of surrender. There was a moment where he was afraid that she wouldn't stop in time - which was ridiculous. Darcy Lewis was maybe one hundred and twenty pounds, max - there was no way she would have been able to hurt him.

Darcy pulled her magic back, burying it again. “Captain Rogers.” she tried to keep her voice steady while trying to get her heart to stop racing for the second time that night. “You scared me.”

The man looked genuinely sorry, which was better than what she usually got from the scientists when they scared her. “Sorry.” he apologized, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly. “Should’ve known better than to sneak up on a dame in the middle of the night like that. And please, call me Steve.”

“Then call me Darcy.”

There was an awkward moment where Steve just stared at her, and she pretended as though he wasn’t. Her fingertips kept tracing over the joints in the leather dragon’s wing. “I don’t mean to get into your business, but… are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“Because you're sitting in the dark common room in the middle of the night.” he pointed out, and she was grateful that it was dark enough out that he couldn’t see the blush on her cheeks.

She stopped what she was doing, eyes moving to take stock of the room around her before saying anything. “You know, that’s a good point.” she finally admitted.

“Thanks.” the word came out as more of a laugh than anything else. He moved to sit on the couch with her, eyebrows furrowing when he noticed what she was playing with. “What’s that?” 

“My aunts made it for me.” She admitted, running a finger along the thick golden threads that made up the wing joints on the dragon. “When I was little. It's one of the only things I have from home anymore.”

“Where's home?” Steve asked, looking curious. There was so much about Darcy Lewis that he didn't know, but wanted to learn about. She intrigued him - she almost seemed as out of time as he was. There were offhand comments that she would make that referenced other times and people like it had happened yesterday, instead of hundreds of years ago. She almost didn't make sense, and it was almost as intriguing as the blue of her eyes and the curve of her lips. 

She gave him an appraising look for a moment before answering. “It's gone now,” she admitted, surprising herself with the honesty of her answer. “But home was in South Wales. Papa was from a tiny village north of there, but Father grew up in what was, at the time, a big city.”. 

“What happened?” Steve asked. There was a look in her eyes that made him want to comfort her, but he held back. She seemed just a bit too fragile to touch.

She tried to think of a way to phrase it without giving anything away. “Home invasion.” She finally decided, remembering how Camelot burned around her, how her Aunt Morgana distracted their attackers while she and Aunt Gwen made it out. How her Papa nearly shut down when they found her father's body, how he barely let her out of his sight for the next few decades. “There was nothing left.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Review!


	9. Chapter 9

Everything had been quiet - almost eerily so. No letters from her father, no invasions of the Tower. Just normal calls for the Avengers to assemble, and the occasional lab explosion. It was almost boring. Midsummer had passed, and Samhain was approaching, but was still too far away to start putting up decorations for. Personally, Darcy liked to keep out a few Halloween decorations all year long for her own private amusement - anything that even hinted at being witchy was fair game as far as she was concerned. But now she was bored, which was why when she had seen a flyer that had been dropped in with her usual mail, she had been more than excited. 

“Janey Janey Janey JANE!” Darcy chanted, running into the labs and almost colliding with her friend. She had run all the way from the elevators - she would have run up the stairs, but the elevators in the Tower were actually quicker than the stairs.

“What is it, Darcy?” the scientist asked, barely paying attention. She was scribbling on a whiteboard, hand moving a mile a minute as she took in the data that her machines were giving.“Can it wait please? I just got a metric ton of data, and I need to collate it -”

“Sorry boss lady, it can’t.” Darcy said, her eyes glowing gold for the smallest of seconds. Jane jumped when her papers scattered across the floor, turning to give her assistant the evil eye. After doing a quick check to make sure that Bruce and Tony weren’t paying them any attention, Darcy gave a flick of her wrist, her eyes glowing gold, and the papers settled themselves back into organised piles.

She set a cream-colored flier on the table, and Jane snatched it up, already irritated because of the break in her research. “What is it?’ she asked, barely even looking at it.

Darcy smirked, blue eyes sparkling. “I told you I was going to take you out dancing, Janey. Tonight’s the night.”

That got the astrophysicist’s attention. “What?” she asked, actually taking a second to look at the flyer that she had been handed. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” Darcy nodded, already heading towards the door. She had to decide if she was going to just go to the store and find them costumes, or if she would raid one of her storage units across the world for their clothes. “It’ll be a blast.”

“Fine.” Jane said, already disappearing back into her work. “Give me four hours and I’ll be ready.”

The curvy brunette paused, turning to look at her best friend. “Make it three and you’ve got yourself a deal.” 

Jane whirled around, shock on her face. “What? That’s not enough time.”

“It’s more than enough time and we both know it.” Darcy snorted, but started heading towards the door again. “You would have spent the last hour working yourself up over your equations, anyway.”

“Fine.”

“In fact… come on.” Darcy darted back over, grabbing her friend by the flannel-covered wrist. She yanked on her arm, starting to pull the other woman along behind her.

She had managed to catch Jane off guard, easily dragging her along for the first few feet until the other woman dug her feet in. “What?” she spluttered. “Darcy!”

“Come on, Jane!” Darcy urged. “Science can wait til tomorrow, I promise.”

They left the labs, with Darcy dragging Jane out by her hand. Both of them were talking a mile a minute, more of it coming from Darcy than Jane. The other scientists turned to look at each other. Curiosity was in their blood - there was no way that they could ignore this. Tony made his way over to Jane’s corner of the lab, curious to see what had made the scientist abandon her work so quickly. Nothing made her break away from her work that quickly, not even an actual explosion. He scoffed when he saw the flyer sitting on her desk, causing Bruce to come over to see what the big deal was. “_The Knights of Camelot ball_?” 

“Weird.” Bruce commented. He was barely paying attention to what Tony was doing - one eye on him and one eye on the computers in front of him. “I didn’t really see either of them as the ren fair type.” 

Tony shrugged, already distracted and onto the next topic. “Maybe it’s something Point Break got them into.”

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“You’re sure you want to do this?” Jane asked, once they were safely tucked away on their floor of the tower. Thor stayed there as well whenever he was in town, but at the moment he was away on Asgard. They had met up in Darcy’s room, Adrastia curled up on the bed, watching the pair of them. It almost reminded her of a different time - even after Arthur died, Camelot had lived on. It was smaller, more subdued - they had lost a lot during the Saxon invasion, not just their king. But they had banded together, keeping the kingdom running. Morgana and Gwen had taken charge of any formal events and meetings with dignitaries, and their chambers looked a lot like this before any event - dresses scattered everywhere, brushes and hairpins covering every surface. “This is a big deal, Darcy.”

The other woman stopped rummaging through her closet for a second, turning to look at her friend. “Yes it is.” she admitted, her accent switching for a moment to the lilting tones of her home. She ran her fingers over the sleeve of the dress that she had picked for the evening, admiring how it looked. It wasn’t as heavy as the ones that she remembered, but it would do for one night. “But it isn't as though anyone else there will know.” It hadn't been long after her conversation with her father that Darcy had told Jane everything about her past - from her childhood spent playing with the knights to the battle of Camlann. Even the eventual fall of Camelot, long after her family was gone. She had told her about running from witch hunters with her father, moving from place to place over the centuries. She was building up to telling the rest of the team the truth, taking baby steps to keep herself from losing her nerve.

“Whatever you say, your highness.” Jane teased, pulling Darcy out of her thoughts before they could take too dark of a turn. The dark-haired woman shook her head, pulling out the pair of dresses she had set aside earlier before turning to her friend with a smile. 

“Right then.” she smirked, tossing the dresses on the bed, before turning to her friend. Jane gulped at the look on her friend’s face. “Your medieval makeover awaits.” 

Her eyes flashed gold, and Darcy laughed when Jane yelped at the feeling of her hair being brushed. She spun around, relaxing just a little when she saw the brush hovering in midair. It was unsettling but not as bad as if someone had managed to sneak up on her without her noticing it at all. “Stay still Janey or I’ll never finish in time.” Darcy warned, and she set to work.

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They arrived in the common area to find the entire team there, watching a movie. Clint and Natasha were curled up on one couch, with Tony and Bruce sitting at opposite ends of the other. Thor had made a nest of sorts on the floor, and Steve sat in the only armchair, mainly looking confused by whatever movie they were watching. It was quickly forgotten, though, when Darcy and Jane stepped out of the elevator, talking excitedly. “Where are you two off to?” Steve asked, looking concerned. He seemed to be very overprotective of any civilians that were associated with the Avengers, no matter how much they insisted that there was nothing to worry about.

“And what are you wearing?” Clint asked, looking incredulous. But there was a gleam in his eyes that almost made it look like he wanted to join them. Darcy had quickly learned that out of all the Avengers, Clint and Tony were the ones who were most likely to join in on any shenanigans that she came up with - this was right up his alley.

“I'll have you know this is high fashion, Hawkass.”. Darcy retorted, signing something rude at him. He responded in kind, making her laugh at his inventiveness with cursing in ASL.

“For when, the 4th century?” he snorted. 

“Twelfth century, actually.” Jane spun around, almost dislodging the flowers that Darcy had carefully woven into her hair. She smoothed down the blue-grey skirts of her dress, smiling at how it fit her tiny frame. “Isn't it beautiful?” 

Darcy looked down at her own dress, smiling fondly. It fit perfectly - from the way the sleeves smoothed over her shoulders and came to rest at her fingertips to how the skirts draped over her hips. The red of her dress was embroidered with golden dragons, moving between fleur de lis - the colors and symbol of her family's crest. She had had the dress since her days in court, and preservation spells had kept it in perfect condition. Albion might have been gone, but it still lived on in her, as her father was fond of reminding her. Her hair had been left long, hanging down her back in loose curls with sections of it braided back to create an elaborate crown of hair. She was impressed with herself - it had been a long time since she had had a cause to do something like that, and she hadn’t been sure that she would remember how.

She waved goodbye, steering Jane in the direction of the main elevator. “See you later - text us if the world is ending, please.”

Jane nodded. “We don’t want to get caught in any of the traffic that might cause.”

Tony snorted - it was always good to know that they had their priorities straight. “Will do.” There was half a second when he turned his attention back to the movie, before his conscience got the better of him. “Be back before midnight - don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

“Yes Dad.” Jane shot back, pulling a face at the engineer. Thor laughed at his girlfriend’s expression, although there was a hint of appreciation in his eyes at the sight of her.

Darcy rolled her eyes as well, finding the suggestion ridiculous. “That leaves us with a lot of options, Stark.” she pointed out. She ignored everything else the others were saying - they were running late enough as it was. Even with a magical intervention, they would have to leave at that moment in order to keep from missing too much.

8888

As soon as they got to the ball, Darcy could feel her stress melting away. Dealing with the Avengers and everything that came with the twenty-first century, while easy enough to get a grasp on when she just watched the years pass by, still sometimes left her reeling. It was more of a combination of both worlds - high tech and superhero - than just missing what she had gotten used to over the centuries. But there were times when she missed the good old days, when the most stressful thing that she had to deal with was making potions and elixirs with Gaius - memories may have faded over the years, but that was something that could never fully disappear. No matter what other duties she had as the Crown Princess of Albion, the delicate potions that her grandfather had her help with were always the hardest. Gaius fretting over her terrible healing abilities and getting ready with her aunts for balls and court events were a few of those things that would never really go away - neither would sword practice with her Father and uncles, or lessons with her Papa.

And while it was funny to her to look around and see just how inaccurate some things were, she was mostly nostalgic as she showed Jane everything she could. From the tapestries hung around the room to the high table at the front of the room - where you could pay thousands of dollars to sit, because they lived in New York - to the candles and torches lighting the room, they had done an excellent job of reproducing a medieval king’s court.

She would have dragged her friend around, but the other woman was already complaining that her wrists hurt enough from earlier in the day. “There’s the band - truly one of the finest, I heard that they have even played for the President before.” now they looked like something that would be at home at a Renaissance Fair, except for the instruments - there weren’t nearly enough strings.

“Darcy.”

“Yes, Jane?”

Her friend was studying her, confusion on her face. “Why are you talking like that?” she asked, sounding just a little bit worried.

Her face scrunched up as she replayed her words in her head, trying to figure out what the astrophysicist meant. “Like what?”

“Like a romance novel.”

Darcy laughed - she hadn’t even realized what she was doing. But now that she was paying attention she could hear it. There was a lilt to her voice that would have instantly been recognizable a thousand years ago, and she had been using what her aunt had always called her ‘court voice’. “Sometimes it can be fun to brush off the old tongue.” she shrugged. “Or at least, the English translation of it.”

“It’s weird - sometimes it’s easy to forget that you are so old.” Jane said, making a path through the crowd towards the banquet tables. “Like, you’re older than Steve.” she teased.

“Yeah, and you should respect your elders.” she shot back. Jane rolled her eyes, pouring them both cups of alcohol.

The flavors of spiced wine danced across her tongue, and she smiled, draining her cup in minutes. That was enough to get her to look around the room in a much more relaxed mood than she had been in. She watched dancers move across the floor, their movements as in sync as they could be for people who hadn’t been doing the dance their entire lives. The dancing was slow, for now - as the night progressed, the music would pick up and the dancing would become more lively. Until then, Darcy was more than willing to stay on the edges of the dance floor. She had been forced to learn the court dances that her father and Aunt Morgana had grown up doing, but always preferred the dancing that occurred later in the night - it had been Gwen and Merlin who had brought it with them into the courts from the lower town.

Darcy caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned. Someone was heading towards them, pure determination on his face. They smiled when they caught sight of her, and she grimaced. “Uh oh.”

“What?”

Darcy took another sip of her wine, sensing that she was probably going to need it. “Hate to tell you this, Janey, but even the past had its fair share of creeps. And we’ve got one coming this way.”

He was at least a few inches taller than both of them - something that wasn’t hard to do - and was dressed like a knight of the crusades, an empty scabbard on his hip. He bowed as soon as he reached them, earning the attention of the people surrounding them. He was pretty, Darcy mused - not her usual type, but still pretty. Until he opened his mouth and started talking. “Stand ho! What g'rgeous ladies I seeth with mine own eyes in front of me!” If his bow hadn’t caught everyone’s attention, the way he almost shouted his words would have. “Wouldst thee liketh to danceth with me, milady?” he bellowed, dropping to one knee at Darcy’s feet.

Darcy had to fight hard to keep from laughing - she was sure her cheeks were red like she was blushing, but it was really from trying to contain herself. “Oh, for goodness sake.” she murmured, her voice low enough that only Jane heard her.

Jane leaned over slightly, looking as confused as Darcy felt. “What is he doing?”

“Speaking Shakespearean English.” she explained, then snorted. “Trying to, at least.”

“Why?”

Darcy shrugged, doing her best to keep the movement hidden. “No idea - maybe he thinks it makes him sound smarter.” Unfortunately for him it wasn’t working out as well as he had hoped it would. “But he’s about three hundred years too late, and his tenses are all wrong, anyway.”

“Are you going to do it?” Jane asked. “Dance with him, I mean.”

“Of course.” she scoffed - she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. If the knight couldn’t dance, she would leave. But until then, she was determined to have fun. “He might be an idiot, but he’s cute.”

“Well?” They jumped - they had almost forgotten that the knight was still knelt in front of Darcy, waiting on her answer. “Wouldst thee danceth with me?”

Darcy offered him her hand, smiling when he took it. “It would be a pleasure, sir knight.” she nodded, and he smiled as he climbed to his feet. She turned to her friend, waggling her eyebrows. “Don’t wait up, Janey.” she said, following him out onto the dance floor.

8888

One of the beautiful things about having been alive for centuries was that it gave one plenty of time to practice hobbies. For most of human history, dancing had been an expected social skill - everyone knew how to dance, no matter what. And while she had forgotten a lot of the dances that she had learned over the centuries - the quadrille was one that she had forgotten as soon as possible - she still remembered every step that she had grown up with.

The knight - she still had yet to get his name - led her around the dance floor, barely missing a single step. “You know your dances well.” she admitted, smiling. While she had come to love modern club dancing, there was something about having the set steps that made it that much easier. The song that was playing was perfect - it was slow and haunting, the sort of tune that sent shivers down the spine without even trying.

The knight smiled, nodding his head. “Thanketh thee, milady.” he said, and Darcy had to work extremely hard to avoid rolling her eyes. “Thou art exquisite - thy eyes shineth with the lighteth of a thousand moons, thy lips as r'd as a freshly pick'd rose.” she had met Shakespeare - even the bard himself wasn’t as bad at flirting as this man was.

So she gathered her courage, already afraid to know what the answer was to a question that she hadn’t even asked yet. “Might I ask - why do you talk like that?”

“Liketh what, milady?”

“Like that.” she pointed out. The song changed - going from slow and methodical to wild and untamed with just a few notes. The pace of the dance picked up, and Darcy grinned. “While it may seem appropriate for the setting, I can assure you it is not.”

He scowled. “And how wouldst thee knoweth of such matt’rs?”

As much as she wanted to say that she had lived through both time periods, she knew she couldn’t. It would have been fun to see the look on his face, but it ultimately wouldn’t have been worth having to break out of a mental hospital. “I studied it for a long time.” 

“Ah.” he nodded, but there was a look on his face that said something else. “I see.”

“I beg your pardon?” she schooled her features, forming them into her Aunt Morgana’s best ‘try me’ face - it had made lesser men faint before. She hadn’t quite reached her aunt’s levels of success with that particular glare just yet, but it still worked well.

“I meanteth nay offense, milady.” the man insisted, backtracking slightly. “T’is only yond womenfolk art meanteth to stayeth at home with babes, not studying.”

It took her a moment to translate what he was saying - while she had once spoken like that, it had been a very long time, and he was doing it badly. But her face hardened once she understood him. “I see.” she said, releasing his hand mid-step. She took a step back, nearly running into another couple. “And does your prejudice serve you well in your duties?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. It seemed like the theme of the dance was bringing out memories of her time in Camelot - the eyebrow was eerily reminiscent of her grandfather.

“Milady?” He asked, looking confused. He tried to reach out for her, but she took another step back.

“You may dress the part of a knight, but you do not act the part.” she said, her voice as cold as ice. “The King would be ashamed of your actions, sir.” with that said, she turned and walked away, making her way back to Jane.

8888

They stayed for hours, Darcy teaching her friend the steps to each dance that they did. Eventually people had drunk enough to stop doing court dances, and Darcy had led them all in a village dance that her Aunt Guinevere had taught her as a child. It was a fast paced, whirling dance that had them all laughing. Skirts flew and people cheered, the band whipped into a frenzy. Darcy’s eyes danced as she did, and she spun Jane around the room. It was only the last bit of restraint in her body that kept her magic from reacting - it had been fighting its bonds ever since she had found her own knights, straining to break free. That was the trouble with magic - 

It was hours later when they made it back home, giggling and stumbling along. Tony was the only one still awake when they got back to the Tower, and he did a double-take when he saw the state that the two women were in. They weren’t even meant to be on this floor - their apartments were on the next floor up.

“You two okay?” Tony asked, putting down the welding torch in his hand. He wheeled away from his project, looking at the pair of them. Even the bots looked a bit nervous - they had only ever seen Tony look that plastered before. “You look like you ended up on the wrong side of Tinkerbell and a bag of pixie dust.”

“Hey Tony,” Darcy said, her voice slurred slightly. “D’you… d’you wanna see some magic?” 

“Darcy, no.” Jane said, trying to pull her friend along, back to the elevators. “You’re too drunk.”

But she waved off her friend, crossing the room with surprising grace. “‘M never too drunk for magic, Janey-girl. ‘S in… in my blood.” she threw herself into the chair next to him, giggling when it spun slightly.

“Alright, shortstack. I’ll bite.” Tony said, looking amused at how adorable the drunk woman was. She was the kid sister that he had never had. “Show me what you got.”

She thought back, smiling as she remembered a favorite of hers. Her eyes lit up. She took a handful of metal shavings off of a table, flourishing a bit to make it seem like she was hiding something up her sleeve. She had learned tricks during the witch-hunts, making things look like slight of hand instead of anything else.

“_Upastiye sceotan._” She whispered, using her hair to hide how her eyes glowed. She flexed her fingers, feeling the magic flow through her fingertips. A small smile spread across her face at the feeling, which quickly turned into horror when the pieces burst into flames.

Tony had jumped back the second things went up in flames, almost falling off of his chair. “What the hell?” he yelped. The flames grew in size until they almost consumed the table. It only went out when Dum-E came over with a fire extinguisher clutched in his robotic claw. He got more foam on the dark-haired pair than he got on the actual flames, but it was still enough to put out the fire. 

Darcy’s face went slack as she tried to wipe the foam off of her face. It wasn’t working as well as she hoped - her hand-eye coordination was mostly gone by that point in the night, and there was no chance of it getting better anytime soon. “‘M sorry.” she said, sounding miserable. Jane came up behind her, running a hand through her hair.

“This is why we don’t do magic drunk, Darce.” she pointed out.

“It was supposed to make a dragon appear.” Darcy protested. Her lip wobbled dangerously and an actual tear welled up in her eye. “Like the ones Papa would make when I couldn't sleep. I wanted to help Tony sleep.”

The scientists’ hearts nearly melted at her drunken rambling. They silently exchange a promise to never mention this to anyone - Darcy was a maudlin drunk and they all knew it, even though no one ever actually spoke of it.

“You aren't allowed to cast drunk anymore.” Jane scolded as she dragged her assistant towards the elevator. Tony noticed that while Dr. Foster was tripping over the hem of her dress, Darcy was still managing to walk without having any issues with her dress. It was almost amusing to watch the astrophysicist mother her assistant for once.

“M gonna call Papa…” he heard the curly-haired brunette slur. “M’be he knows wha’ went wrong.”

“In the morning.” Jane countered. “Right now you need to sleep.”

“But Janey…”

It was only after they were gone that Tony began to wonder about how she had done that. It almost looked like chemistry - magnetized metal shards doused in kerosene or some other flammable substance.


	10. Chapter 10

Darcy Lewis was famous for many things in Avengers Tower - her abilities to keep the scientists in line was the main one. But a lesser-known skill that she had was her way with words. She could spin tales like ones that no one had ever imagined before, from any period in history. Sometimes she took requests, told stories to make people happy - whether it was glory days stories of gunning down German bombers with the WRAF for Steve and running missions with the SSR when he was feeling nostalgic or tales of dancing at the Tsar’s palace for Natasha. Carnivals and circus origins for Clint, and the Chicago World’s Fair for her Science Boys. Other times she would pick whatever came to mind - and she had a lot of stories to tell.

She would only tell them if she was asked, or if one of her friends needed a distraction - more often than not it was the latter. She had quickly realized that it was the easiest way to keep them from nightmares and worries in the middle of the night. 

Sometimes she would call places by the wrong names, confusing the others until she realized what she did. Bohemia instead of the Czech Republic; Caylon and Persia instead of Sri Lanka and Iran, she even used Gaul instead of France. It was almost strange, in a way - she was using names from centuries ago. Even Steve didn’t know what she meant. And every story - whether it was about highway bandits in the fourteenth century, parties in pre-Revolutionary France, prohibition flappers, visits to places all around the world - was in the first person.

Everyone just assumed her use of the first person was just a creative license.

8888

The Avengers had won another battle - this one against the United States Army. General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross had been stripped of his rank following evidence of what he had done to Dr. Bruce Banner, and any and all manhunts for the scientist had been stopped. He barely managed to keep his position with the UN, but they could deal with that at a later date. For now, they were celebrating Bruce’s freedom. Tony had thrown a massive party, inviting everyone that he could think of. Of course, that many people quickly overwhelmed Bruce, so most of them were quickly kicked out. That left the Avengers team and their associated family - mainly Pepper, Rhodey, Jane, and Darcy. By that point in the night, they were all relatively drunk - even Steve and Thor, since they had broken into the Asgardian mead.

It was late, and they were all beginning to fall asleep when Jane made a request. “Tell us a story, Darce.” she asked. Her head was in Thor’s lap, looking like a little kitten curled up on him. Darcy sat next to them, Adrastia curled up in her hair. The Avengers had gotten used to the almost codependent tendencies of the human and lizard at this point, and barely even noticed it anymore. She was just glad that none of them paid too much attention to the lizard to realize just how much raw meat the little terror consumed.

“Aye, Lady Darcy.” Thor nodded as he ran a hand through the astrophysicist’s hair, a small smile on his face. Despite how much work he still had to do across the Nine Realms, this was his favorite place to be - with his friends and adoptive family. Luckily for him, his father had been far more accepting of his decision to stay on Midgard once he had revealed that one of his new friends was Emrys’ daughter, and a Pendragon to boot. “Your tales are indeed legendary.”

Darcy giggled, smacking at his arm and taking a sip of water. She was at the sobering up point of the night - if she wasn’t careful she would end up with the worst hangover in the morning. “Shut up, big guy.” 

She thought about it for a minute, running through all of the memories in her head. There were so many different ones that she could have told them, but one wouldn’t let go of her mind. It wasn’t even her story to tell, really. Still, if she told it now, maybe they would understand more when the time came to let them know the truth about her. She could feel it coming - that time was growing closer and closer by the day. She took a deep breath once she figured out where to start her story. “Once Upon a Time,” she began, pitching her voice low. “there was a servant from a small village on the outskirts of a big city. When he came of age, he left his village, and went in to seek out their Fortune….”

Her voice kept the room under her spell, the rest of the assembled guests drifting over in singles and pairs to hear better. She kept talking, weaving her tale of knights and dragons, magic and treason - Fate and Destiny. It entranced the Avengers, to the point that, when she stopped - after the King and his sister and their servants saved the citadel from an evil sorceress - they were disappointed. 

Darcy opened her eyes - she wasn’t even completely sure when she had shut them - to find everyone staring at her. Steve looked crestfallen; Tony was having trouble keeping his mask in place, although that might have had more to do with Pepper sleeping against his shoulder than anything else. “Why did you stop?” Steve asked.

Darcy blushed, feeling awkward. The rest of the story was something she was proud of - her parents got married, and her Aunts became the respective kings' right hands. But that wasn’t how the legends went. And this wasn’t the time for them to know that information. Over the centuries, both she and her father had learned how to understand what their magic was telling them. Merlin’s magic was of the Earth itself - it was why he had lived so long. And since Darcy’s magic came from him, hers reacted in the same way. And from what it was saying, now wasn’t the time for them to have any more information than they did. So she got up from the couch that she was sitting on, faking a massive yawn. “It’s late - I’ll tell the rest of it some other time.” She said, distracting them before they could ask any more questions. Everyone seemed to realize just how late it was the second she yawned, and they all agreed - it was far past the time for bed.

The only one who didn’t go was Tony.

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“How’s it going, Janey?” Darcy asked, her voice just a little bit too loud. She cackled when Jane winced, covering her ears with her hands. The astrophysicist had definitely overindulged at the party the night before, and she was having far too much fun teasing her about it. Even Adrastia had decided to stay in their apartment for the day - hungover Jane was something that she had only needed to experience once before deciding that she would never do it again. Darcy had made sure that Jane had gotten some water and aspirin into her first, but anything after that was fair game. 

She checked her watch - it was almost six at night, and none of her scientists had stopped for longer than it took to use the bathroom all day. That was normal for a day - but they had all been drinking heavily the night before, and needed food in them to counter the effects of all of it. She hadn’t been too hard on them earlier - eating was hard when you were extremely hungover - but now was the perfect time. So she pulled out her secret weapon - JARVIS. The AI made sure that everyone’s research was saved, then shut down everything that they were currently working on.

“Coffee break!” Darcy called out, earning the attention - and irritation - of her charges. “Everyone stop what they’re doing and eat something.” 

“Yeah… about that.” Tony rubbed at the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “Hey shortstack, wanna go on a coffee run?”

“Why?” she asked, eyes narrowed as she studied the engineer. Something wasn’t right - he had done something. “The pot is right there.” she pointed out.

Now Tony winced - she was right, she mused. He had done something. Something slightly embarrassing, judging by the way he was trying to hide it. She couldn’t help the slight smirk that crossed her face - whatever he was about to say was practically guaranteed to be good. “I might have… used it? You don’t want any more information than that. Now can you please go and get coffee?”

Her face scrunched up as she considered the possibilities for what Tony could have meant, each idea worse than the last. Still, if her scientists didn’t get caffeine in them soon, she wasn’t sure what might happen. “Might as well.”

Tony lit up, relieved that it was over. “Triple espresso -”

“I’ll get you a single, but that’s it.” she countered, not even bothering to pretend to negotiate. “You haven’t slept in thirty-one hours, Tony. Bruce, Chai tea?”

He gave her a small smile, nodding his head. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” she replied, then turned to her main scientist - Tony Stark might have paid her bills, but Jane always came first. “Janey?” 

“Um, mocha please.”

“Got it.” she mentally added in sandwich orders, all ones that she knew they would eat without even thinking about it. “Back in a bit.”

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In hindsight, she was surprised that she had never been grabbed before. After all, she was hardly dangerous - or so people thought - and was friends with almost the entire team. She had heard enough stories about her parents in their early days to know that that usually meant that she would get taken eventually and used as bait. She just hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.

She had already gotten everything that her scientists would need - enough food and caffeine to keep them going no matter how long this science bender lasted. With her headphones in, she pushed her way through the New York crowds, fighting to make it the four blocks back to the Tower. There were places closer that she could have gone to, but none of them had everything that she wanted.

So when someone grabbed her from behind, her first thought was to curse the fact that she had tried to be nice. She was still a few blocks from the tower, and there were several men trying to push her further into the alleyway so that they wouldn’t be seen. It wouldn’t be hard to take care of them, of course - until one of them swung a crowbar at her and it touched her. She screamed in pain, her skin burning from contact with iron. 

Her mind raced. It was a fluke - a strange bit of chance. That was it - there was no way that they had specifically come for her with iron on hand. But now that her kidnappers had realized that iron hurt her, they weren’t holding back.

There was only one option left.

She threw her head back, hair flying out behind her as she let out a guttural scream. She knew that she didn't have the power of a Dragonlord, but if she put enough power into it... If her eyes hadn't been squeezed shut, her kidnappers would have seen her eyes flashing gold behind black-rimmed glasses. That only lasted for a few seconds before she fell to the floor, unconscious. The last thought that passed through her head was a feeling of equal parts contentment and worry - she knew what was going to come, and only hoped that her newly-formed family would be able to handle her father coming to town.

And even as an alarm went off, alerting the team that she was missing, two pairs of blue eyes on different sides of the planet opened up. One was waking up from eons of sleep while the other had just tumbled into bed after a late-night shift in A&E. But both of them had only one thought running through their minds.

They had to go save their daughter.

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None of the scientists would have noticed Darcy was missing for several hours time - the second that she left to get lunch, they had all gotten stuck back in their respective projects. Luckily for all of them, JARVIS did.

_“Sir, we have a situation.”_ The AI called out, grabbing their attention. _“Miss Lewis has hit her panic button.”_

“What?” Jane looked around her, still pulling her mind back into the real world from her science-binge. There were interns everywhere, a few other scientists, and the bots - but no Darcy. “Where’s Darcy?”

Tony’s blowtorch was turned off and put down in two seconds, already rolling his chair over to the hologram table. “J, talk to me.” he pulled up the images with a few complex motions, fingers flying over keys. 

_“Her tracker has stopped moving - it is at the intersection of first and Broadway.”_

Bruce and Jane gathered around the table, worry painted clearly on their faces. “Why do you have a tracker on Darcy?” Jane asked. She looked a bit irritated by what Tony had done, and then relieved - if he hadn’t had one on her, they wouldn’t even know that she was gone.

“For situations like this.” Tony pointed out. He was scanning through CCTV footage, looking for the tiny brunette in the crowds. JARVIS was helping with facial recognition, looking through everything. “Darcy’s an untrained civilian - she can’t exactly defend herself against our kind of villains. I have about ten on Pep.” he admitted.

Bruce snorted. “You know she’s going to kill you for that when she comes home, right?” he asked, but his eyes were scanning through the crowd as well. “Darcy isn’t one to take things like this lightly.”

“As long as she comes home, shortstack can kill me as many times as she wants.”


	11. Chapter 11

The Avengers had been called down to the labs, and the situation had been explained to them. All of them were ready for battle, ready to find out what had happened to their friend. But they had hit a dead end - they had found Darcy’s phone at the corner where JARVIS had tracked it to, but that was it. No Darcy. Now they were scrambling for something to use to find her. Natasha had reached out to her contacts, and so had Clint. None of them had heard anything - there hadn’t been any hits put out on the scientist wrangler, nothing had been said on the dark web. JARVIS hadn’t been able to find anything either - he was still scanning CCTV around all five boroughs.

_“Sir, we have a situation.”_ JARVIS called out, gaining all of their attention. They all froze, waiting to hear what the AI said next.

Steve sighed, exasperated. This was too much going on at one time for the captain - he preferred things when they only had one emergency at a time. He didn’t have the time at the moment to deal with anything other than Darcy’s disappearance. “Another one?” They didn’t have the chance to ask what it was.

“Come out and face me!” the voice rang through the Tower, amplified to the point where it sounded as though the voice was in the room with them. It was harsh, roaring in its displeasure. Despite everything that they had collectively been through, they still felt a shiver of fear run through them at the sound. The air was heavy, thick with something unimaginable.

“JARVIS?” Natasha asked, tense and ready for a fight. She had pulled a knife out to fiddle with - and no one knew where from, which made them that much more nervous. “Where is that voice coming from?”

_“The roof, Miss Romanoff.”_

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They raced up there, ready for whatever they were faced with. The Captain was the first one out of the elevator, with Iron Man flying up the side of the building to come up behind the intruder. Hawkeye moved quickly and quietly, finding the highest vantage point. The rest of the team came out behind the Captain - even Jane had managed to tag along, claiming that she might be able to help in some way.

There was a man waiting for them there. He was ancient and looked wise - a bit like Dumbledore if the Avengers were being honest - and they could feel the power rolling off of him in waves. His eyes glowed golden with power and anger, like miniature flames. The only thing that they couldn't figure out was what - or who - he was. He wore blue robes with a red scarf wrapped around his neck, with his long white beard thrown over his shoulder. He clutched a wooden staff in both hands, leaning on it slightly to help keep him upright.

The team flew out around the man, ready to fight. He had to be connected to Darcy’s disappearance - it was too much of a coincidence otherwise, something that none of them really believed in.

“Who hired the Gandalf impersonator?” Iron Man asked, the speakers on his suit making his voice come out robotically. Still, he had his repulsors at the ready - he didn’t know what their visitor was capable of.

“Are you the so-called Avengers?” his voice was dry and scratched, like sand against rocks. And while his tone was as far from reverent as it could get, the look in his eyes said for them all to maintain their manners. “Tasked as ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’?” His eyes scanned over the group, looking unimpressed with what he saw.

“Yeah, that's us.” Captain America said, his tone as tense as his posture. The super-soldier had his shield at the ready, his entire body coiled tighter than a spring. “Want to give us a clue as to who you are?”

“I am who I am, I am who I was, and I am who I always will be.” He intoned. The wind at the top of the Tower had his hair flying out behind him, like a picture out of an old storybook.

"Great." Hawkeye drawled, keeping his bowstring taut. "Want to be any less specific?"

“Not particularly, as it wouldn’t be helpful in the slightest.”

“Wait!” Jane yelled, running to stand in between them all. She flung out her arms, trying to make herself bigger than she was to cover more space. It would have been funny if not for the deadly seriousness of the situation. “It's okay, I know who he is!”

“Dr. Foster, please move.” The captain commanded. 

“Just… wait a second.” She approached the man slowly, keeping her hands out. Despite what Darcy said, she did have some self-preservation instincts. “You're him, aren't you?” She asked. “Darcy told me about you. You're her father?” 

He studied her for a moment before nodding. “I am.” he confirmed, leaning heavily against the staff in his hands. The gold in his eyes faded, replaced with a shade of blue a few shades lighter than Darcy’s. “You are her Jane, aren’t you?” His voice was quiet - now that he wasn’t shouting at them all, she could see just how scared he was. He was shaking slightly, using the staff in his hands to keep himself from collapsing. She could see the fear in his eyes - the worry that he had finally lost his only child.

“I am.” she replied, her voice as soft as his. “Darcy’s my best friend.”

He gave her a soft smile, one that made her feel as though everything would be alright in the end. “Then we’ll get along just fine.”

She nodded. “And I know that you don’t know these guys, and you’re probably mad at them for letting Darcy get taken.” she explained, saying exactly what he was thinking. “But let’s be honest for a second - there was nothing they could have done to stop her.”

“They could -”

She cut him off, shaking her head. “They couldn’t.” she said, saying what they both knew. If Merlin didn’t know better, he would have thought that she was magical just by her ability to know what he was thinking. “You and I both know that nothing can stop Darcy once she puts her mind to something. But what we can do is work together, and find her.”

“You’re right.”

“Good.” she raised her voice so that the Avengers could hear her, now that everyone had calmed down just a little. She lead the sorcerer over to the others. “Then let me introduce you to everyone. This is -”

“Yes, I haven't been under a rock, despite what my daughter might say.” Merlin said, chin held high as he studied the group in front of him. “I know exactly who you all are.”

Tony flew down, landing on the roof along with the others. “It would be nice to know who we’re dealing with - unless I was right.” he said, his faceplate flipping upwards. While his words were sarcastic, the tension in his face spoke as to how worried he was. “Gandalf?” he asked. “Or are you more of a Dumbledore type?”

Despite everything, the old man couldn’t help the quiet laugh that escaped him. Tony Stark reminded him a bit of Gwaine, in the end. Trying to hide the heart of gold that he had under a layer of quips and insults. “I am Merlin Pendragon.”

Thor stepped forward, bowing slightly in deference to the man in front of them. “My Lord Emrys, it is an honor.” he said, voice grave. “Heimdall has told many a tale of your exploits.”

The rest of them were shocked, but it was Tony who said what they were all thinking. “You're shitting me.” he said, shaking his head. “You’re kidding, right? Your name isn’t actually Merlin Pendragon.”

“My mother named me after the bird.” he scoffed, shaking his head. But when he looked at them, his eyes were shining with just the faintest bit of amusement. “It can't be helped that people still seem to remember it.” the Captain led the way to the stairs, gesturing for Merlin to follow them.

“What are you doing here?” the captain asked, bracing himself for the answer. For all they knew, they could have just invited an enemy into their home. But Jane trusted him, so they would too.

“I’m looking for my daughter.” he said simply. “You may know her - Darcy.”

The statement shocked them all - Darcy was so full of life, none of them could imagine that this old man was her father. “Darcy is your daughter.”

“How’d you know she was missing?”

“Her magic called to mine.”

“Wait, what? Magic is real?” Hawkeye asked, his eyebrows raised slightly in his surprise - not that anyone would see it. Merlin was walking ahead of him and Natasha, with the Captain and Tony in front of him. Thor and Bruce were on either side of him. “And Darce has it.”

Thor nodded - the entire time, he hadn’t seemed even the slightest bit phased. If anything, he had expected it. “Aye.”

He sighed - a sound that he was intimately familiar with, judging by how easily it came out. “Yes, but we can focus on that later. I thought she would have told you herself, I know she wanted to. But for now, there are more important things to worry about. Where's the lizard?” He asked, looking around the room as if that was a normal thing to ask.

“Uh, what?”

“The lizard.” Merlin repeated. “Little, blue, and a general nuisance? Normally sticks to my daughter like glue.”

Jane nodded. “She’s downstairs, on our floor.”

“Take me to her.” Merlin commanded. It was the tone of a man who would not be disobeyed.

8888

They all knew the lizard in question - she was constantly peeking out of Darcy’s sweaters or her hair, crawling all around her. She would puff up, hissing at those who tried to insult her. It was rare to see one of them without the other - Adrastia was Darcy’s favorite, even more than Jane was. She protected the creature with her life, and now that they knew that she was something more than that, they could see that the reptile did the same for her.

When they entered the room the lizard ran up to them, hissing mad. Her tail whipped around her, and she seemed bigger than she usually was. She was normally only a few inches long, small enough to hide in the pocket of anything that the brunette was wearing. Now she was almost a foot long, and more terrifying than any of the Avengers thought that a reptile could ever be. But she froze the second that the old 

“Hello, Adrastia.” the old man croaked, picking her up, and the team looked on in awe as the little lizard seemed to bow. “It’s far past time, you ridiculous nuisance.” She nipped at his hand in retaliation, and Merlin laughed. 

Merlin put her on the ground, backing a few feet away. With a few muttered words, the lizard began to glow, growing in size. She doubled in size, then doubled again. Wings unfurled from her back - the same deep blue of her scales. Golden eyes shone with wisdom and rage, and she grew once more, until she came up to the old man’s shoulder.

“Where is she?” Merlin asked.

“Still nearby. I can feel that much.” the dragon said, her voice gravelly. If the Avengers hadn’t already been stunned by her transformation, then that would have been more than enough to startle them. As it was, they still took a few steps back. Tony and Bruce were looking at her in shock, almost awed at the transformation. She shook her head. “If I had known…”

But Merlin shook his head. “Not to worry - I know how she gets about guards, she threw enough tantrums as a child about them.” 

“We will get her back.” Adrastia growled, wings flapping along behind her. “She is mine, they cannot have her.”

Despite everything, Merlin couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He was no stranger to the threats of dragons - while Kilgharrah was nowhere near as protective of him as the other dragons were of their own charges, even he could be that fierce. “Yes, you ridiculous lizard - and you can get your revenge to your heart’s content.” he promised.

8888

Darcy’s eyes opened slowly, then all at once as searing heat ripped against her skin. She screamed in pain, feeling her magic turn inward against herself, like knives going through her skin. She knew the feeling - it happened once before, when her fathers had decided to teach her what it felt like when iron was used against her. It wasn't for any maliciousness on his part, but because they wanted her to be prepared in case the worst should ever happen. 

She was shackled with iron, dumped in a small room somewhere. She couldn’t tell anything else - the pain was so intense that she could barely see anything around her, let alone use the clues to figure out where she was. That, of course, was the problem - if she wasn’t in so much pain, she would have been able to use a few well-placed spells to get out and get home before anyone even realized that she was gone. That wouldn’t be an option with her magic fighting her like this.

Whoever had taken her probably hadn't even realized what they were doing - at least, that was what she had hoped. The other possibility was that they knew exactly what they had done, and that was far too terrifying to even contemplate.

After all, no one should even know about Old Magic anymore.

8888

Dark blue eyes opened at the side of a lake on the other side of the world, and a man took a deep breath for the first time in over a millennia. Arthur Pendragon sat up, his chainmail rattling slightly as he moved. His armor gleamed, shining as brightly as it had the day he died. His sword lay at his side - not Excalibur, he hadn’t used it for the battle that he had finally died in. But none of that was important at the moment. Freya had told him what was happening for him to be able to return, and it was urgent. The only issue was figuring out how to get to his husband and daughter - Camelot was gone, and the Lady of the Lake had told him that they were many days of travel away. They were in some kingdom that he had never heard of before - a place called New York, where the citadel was called Manhattan. Freya had told him news of the new world as it was - that he had to get on some sort of metal bird, apparently, in order to make his way across an ocean. But she had offered him another way, one that would get him there faster.

He had not hesitated to take her up on her offer.


	12. Chapter 12

He arrived through a lake in the middle of a park, water dripping off of him and quickly drying. While his method of travel wasn’t the best, it had been far easier and faster than trying to figure out the new methods that Freya had told him about. Freya gave him a map to get him to his destination, but everything was so much different than he had ever seen before. While the Lady of the Lake could see outside of Albion and the changing world, those inside weren’t allowed to see anything outside. Arthur wasn’t sure why - he had badgered the woman enough that she should have let him see. He was a king, after all, a fact that he had reminded her of multiple times.

She always just rolled her eyes in reply, and wondered aloud about how Merlin put up with him.

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King Arthur made his way through the strange city he found himself in. Nothing seemed right - no animals other than dogs, no fields. How did they keep their citizens fed? The streets weren’t made of anything he was familiar with - they were black and shiny, and strange metal carts moved on them without horses. There was no one showing any sort of deference to him - and while he would have appreciated the opportunity to walk around Camelot like a regular citizen instead of a king, he would have appreciated the deference shown now. It would have helped him find where he was going a lot easier.

Still, he followed the map - stopping traffic a few times when he stepped out in front of one of the strange metal horses. He earned more than a few curious looks, and gave them right back - he couldn’t comprehend why none of the men he saw had a single sword on them. But he smiled when he saw his target - a building, bigger than anything he had seen. There wasn’t a smithy big enough to make that big of steel sheets. It was impressive - it wasn’t his castle, but it was still a marvel. And the large letter ‘A’ on the top indicated that he had finally reached his destination.

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A man in chainmail with a bright red cloak stormed into the lobby of Stark Tower, drawing his sword as he went. The leather scabbard at his side flapped around, empty, as he continued walking. “Where is the Lady Darcy?” He asked, his blue eyes dark with anger. There was a threat in his voice as he held his sword by his side, ready in case someone tried to attack him. “This is the location where she spends most of her time, is it not?” He watched the room in case somebody tried to stop him, but not a single one of them moved.

The lobby went silent, no one knowing how to respond to the man who looked like he had just stepped out of a Renaissance Fair. None of them moved, not even the security guards, too shocked by the sight. Luckily none of them needed to react - JARVIS had already seen what was going on, and had reacted accordingly.

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The Avengers - plus an astrophysicist, a warlock, and a dragon - were plotting how to save Darcy, each of them talking over the others and none of them actually getting anything done. Merlin smiled - it was far too much like what he remembered of the Knights to not. There was a sense of camaraderie there that he was used to - and a fierce protectiveness that he was not. He had been told that it really only came out when he was in danger, like his daughter was now.

_“Sir, we have another situation.”_ JARVIS said, sounding slightly worried. Adrastia pricked her head up - since Merlin’s arrival, she hadn’t moved more than two feet from his side, although her wings kept flapping in irritation. She was nervous, Merlin explained. The dragon had been assigned as Darcy’s - the princess’s, and hadn’t that been a shock - protector when she was born. The pair had grown up together, and hadn’t been this far apart in centuries. 

Everything that the sorcerer told them was insane. None of them would have believed him, if not for Thor and Jane backing up every word that the old man said. Even then it was still hard to believe. The dragon that stood behind the warlock was the only thing that actually made sure that they believed everything. 

Tony sighed, looking as tired as Steve felt. “Can it wait, J?” he asked, looking towards the ceiling. He had put away the suit for a minute, back in his normal array of band shirts and jeans. He had been the only one who was able to grab any part of his gear when Merlin arrived - the rest of them had grabbed weapons and charged up there in civilian clothing. “One situation at a time, if we can.”

_“I’m afraid not, sir.”_ JARVIS replied, apologetic. _“An intruder has stormed the lobby - he is asking for Miss Lewis. In fact, he is demanding her presence."_

“When Albion’s need is greatest…” Merlin murmured, his voice so low that only the super-soldier managed to pick up on what he was saying - the super-soldier and the dragon sitting next to him. She climbed to her feet, talons clicking against the floor as she moved. “Do you have visuals on this thing?” the old man asked. Any sort of archaic speech that the man had going was gone in a second - like a veil that had been lifted.

“Of course.” Tony said, snapping his fingers twice. A hologram display popped up in front of him. “J, pull up the CCTV.” he requested, and they flickered to life in front of the group. He studied them for a moment, then tapped on one particular feed. He zoomed in, focusing on an image.

“Who is that?” Natasha asked, looking curious - or as curious as she could without changing her expression. The man on the screen was dressed in armor - gleaming silver chainmail under a red tunic, with some plate mail overtop. His sword was in hand, but hadn’t been used too threateningly so far. Golden hair shone in the light from the floor-to ceiling windows in the lobby, and Merlin smiled.

“An old friend.” the old man replied, his voice full of disbelief. Adrastia had calmed down slightly next to him - her princess was as good as found, now. “One that hasn’t been seen in a very long time.”

“Yeah, the Ren Fair get-up kinda... gave that away.” Tony trailed off, lost in thought as he studied the man on the screen. While he had always been more of a fan of technical novels than fairy tales, the original Mr. Jarvis had made sure that he had a foundation in the classics, at least enough to recognize one thing. Wherever Merlin went, Arthur usually followed. “He’s not…?” the engineer asked, turning to look at the old man.

The old man smiled, awe and relief warring in his eyes. Not that Tony blamed him - maybe with another living legend around, they could find the magician’s apprentice. “He is.”

Still, he hadn’t really expected his guess to be right. “Huh.” he said, eyebrows raising slightly before he plastered a neutral expression back on his face. He stood up, gesturing for Merlin to lead the way. “Well then after you, Pinball Wizard.”

But he shook his head, regret clear on his face. For someone who had lived for as long as he claimed to, Merlin was not good at hiding what he was feeling. “No.” he argued. “No… that’s not a good idea, I’m afraid. You go first. I’ll catch up.”

Tony nodded. “10-4.” and stood up, clapping his hands for attention. “Let’s make this fast, we’ve got a minion to save.” he called his suit to him, the pieces of it forming around him in less than a minute. Merlin rolled his eyes - of course he would be flashy like that, he was one of Darcy’s favorites. The rest of the Avengers just gathered whatever gear they would need and headed for the elevator.

The dragon whispered something to him that none of them caught - but they all heard his response. “I need a few minutes to get a hold of my temper or there won’t be a Once and Future _prat_ to deal with.”

8888

Arthur was getting impatient. He was still waiting on a reply, and no one seemed to want to give him any information. “Where is the Lady Darcy?” he roared, brandishing his sword once more. He wasn’t actually planning on using it, but no one needed to know that - they all seemed more likely to help him when they were afraid of him.

“What's it to you, Meta Knight?” Arthur’s eyes widened slightly as he took in the knight in red and gold armor. The man had to be using magic, the king mused - or there was no man, just an armored suit controlled by magic. It was the only explanation for both the flying and the way that the armor didn’t look any different from a man.

Still, he tried not to focus too much on that. There were other people who had entered the playing field, each one of them focusing solely on him. Everyone else had relaxed the moment that they had appeared, so they had to be the knights of this strange kingdom. They didn’t seem like much - the strange red knight was the only one who was wearing any armor at all. “Where is she?” he asked again, his patience wearing out. Really, he was proud of himself for being patient for as long as he had - it wasn’t exactly a quality that he was known for.

The man in front - tall and blond and reminding him a bit of Sir Percival - took another step forward. “We don’t want any trouble, son.” he said, holding up a strangely colored shield in front of him. “Just put the sword down.” he changed his mind as soon as the man started talking - his tone was too arrogant, and he spoke too much to actually remind him of Percy.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, still keeping his sword up. “You call me son.” he pointed out, curious. “And yet, you do not look as though you are my father.” 

“Okay, enough -”

“Tony, wait.” the woman - hair as red as a Camelot flag - called out. So it was a man inside of the suit, then. He couldn’t imagine calling some sort of magical creature ‘Tony’.

“If I wait those two will be at it all day.” he pointed out, bringing his flying armor back to the ground. He flipped the faceplate up so that he could actually see the other man without JARVIS’s readouts covering half of his face. “We don’t have that kind of time. Who the hell are you?” while Merlin had confirmed what he had thought - and wasn’t that a weird sentence, even just to think, Tony mused - it was still good to get the confirmation from the man himself.

“Arthur Pendragon,” the man said, introducing himself as he stared them down. “King of Camelot.”

Their reactions were immediate, and he couldn’t help the swell of pride in his chest. Even in this strange land, they had still heard tales of him, and by extension, Camelot. “Nope.” one of the men - holding a bow at the ready - said, shaking his head in disbelief. “No frickin way.”

“Oh well done, clotpole.” a familiar voice called from the back of the room, sounding annoyed. Arthur grinned, relaxing slightly even as the knights in front of him tensed up. “The first time you’re late in your entire life, and it has to be today.”

The gathered warriors looked stunned by how Merlin addressed the king, but Arthur grinned, the sheer joy on his face making him look years younger as he moved forward. Despite the Warlock’s aggravated tone, he could see the relief in the ancient man's eyes. His arms were crossed over his chest as he stared the king down.

“Mer-lin.” Arthur sighed, sounding more relieved than exasperated. He finally sheathed his sword, much to the relief of the knights in front of him and everyone else in the room. “There was a bit of traveling to get here.”

The old man shook his head, hair flying as he did. “Excuses, excuses.” he muttered, irritated. 

“What happened to you?” Arthur asked, looking worried. “You're so old.”

He winced as soon as the words came out of his mouth - he was going to end up regretting them, and probably soon. But it was true - he didn’t look as old as he actually was, but he still looked much older than he had the last time that Arthur had seen him. Still, his husband didn’t look pleased with his observation. “Oh, thanks.”

“You know what I mean.” the ancient king said, waving off his words. There were far more important matters on his mind. “How long has it been?”

Merlin’s eyes were haunted as he answered. “Over a thousand years. Centuries of waiting - through wars and famines and endless horrors, and you never came.” his voice broke a little, and the Avengers couldn’t help but be transfixed by the display between the two ancient allies. Arthur took a few steps forward, looking like he wanted to comfort the older man. “And now she’s gone.”

“I’m here now.” he reassured. “We’ll find her, Merlin.” 

“I can’t lose her.”

“You won’t have to.” Arthur promised, and then the mood changed. “Now, are you not going to come give your king a proper hello?” he asked, and the words sounded less like a come-on and more like a royal command to those listening. Until Arthur smirked, and they saw the mischief and heat in his eyes. 

Merlin's eyes faded once again from swirling gold to the purest blue as he walked forward to meet his king. The wrinkles and lines disappeared from his face, the skin smoothing out. His hair shrunk and turned darker, his beard disappearing completely. His back straightened, and he stopped leaning on the Sidhe staff that he carried. In place of the ancient sorcerer stood a young man, his hands fisted in the king's blond hair. Arthur held onto the sorcerer just as tightly

“Did anyone else not see that coming?” Tony asked, having to work to tear his eyes away from the dramatic reunion going on.

“That’s the delivery man.” Steve said softly. And in that moment, he remembered where he had known Darcy from - an image flashed in his mind of her with victory rolls in her hair and in a military uniform. She had been called Agent Gwaine back then, but he had heard Peggy call her Darcy a few times. She and Matty had been close back in the war, the pair writing letters to each other frequently. The Howlies had always teased him about that, but now he knew why Matty had always looked so disgusted when they teased him about his girl back home.

But it was Jane who broke them up - running up to them and stopping them mid-kiss. “Hey!” she yelled, smacking both of them. “You two can kiss and make up later. Don’t we have a rescue to be planning?”

Arthur pulled away from his husband just enough to look at the tiny brunette who was glaring him down. It was working, much to his dismay. He was actually slightly nervous from the look that she was giving him. “Who is this?” he asked Merlin, staring at the other man. 

“This is Jane.” Merlin said, making introductions. “She’s the sprog’s best friend.”

“Ah.” Arthur nodded, smiling at the tiny woman in front of him. If his daughter had chosen her as a friend, she had to be impressive. “Apologies for my introduction - it has been a long time since I have seen my husband.”

“I don’t care how long it’s been, you need to go after her now.”

“Duly noted.” Arthur said, nodding his head before turning to look at the Avengers. “You are her knights, are you not?” Arthur asked. “Led by this fierce lady.” he gestured in Natasha's direction. “You remind me of my sister - Morgana was a warrior despite being a woman.”

Natasha smiled when he asked if she led the Avengers. “I like him.”

“Let's reminisce and insult people later, Arthur.” Merlin said, rolling his eyes even as he winced at what his husband was saying. “Sorry - he's been asleep in a lake for the last few centuries. He hasn't exactly been briefed on the feminist movement just yet.”

Arthur rolled his eyes even as he wrapped an arm around Merlin’s waist. Tony got both of their attention, leading them towards the elevators that would take them back towards the Avengers’ common area. “Stop being such a girl, Mer-lin.”

“Then stop being such a prat.” Merlin shot back, shoving at the blonde. He hadn’t even been back for five minutes yet, and they were already sniping at each other like an old married couple. Jane didn’t know whether to be amused or nauseated - it was like watching your parents flirt with each other.

“You call your husband a prat?” Natasha asked, looking curious. She was trying to compile as much data as she could, learning as much as she could. And while it was definitely strange, the knowledge that Darcy was actually a sorceress that had lived for centuries made more sense than if she was just a normal girl.

“Only when he's acting like one.” Merlin replied, giving them a boyish grin. It was strange how different the real Merlin was than the old man's disguise that he had hid behind “Which is always.”

“At least I’m not a clotpole.” the king shot back, a smug grin on his face.

“A what?”

Merlin scowled. “That’s my word.”

“What is this clotpole?” Thor asked, a pleasantly confused look on his face - he was still slightly in awe by the legendary kings in front of him. Logically, he had known for awhile that they were real, but there was something about having them in front of him that was different. He at least carried a weapon like Arthur was used to - a large hammer that could have caused quite a bit of damage.

“In two words?” Merlin asked, a nostalgic smile on his face as they all piled out of the elevator. Adrastia got to her feet in front of them, but didn’t move other than that. Arthur was looking around them in awe, but he still knew what his husband was going to say next. “Uh, King Arthur.” Tony snorted.

The engineer flung himself down onto the nearest chair that he could find, and the others arranged themselves around him. “Wait, so shortstack is your kid?” he asked, checking the facts that he knew.

“Yes.”

He gestured to the large blue reptile on the other side of the room. “The lizard is really a dragon?”

“Our daughter’s most loyal protector.” Arthur said, nodding his head in her direction. “Adrastia.”

The dragon bowed again, a gesture that looked strange when the being doing it had wings and a tail. “My king.”

Just barely, the kings could hear Steve: “And here I thought life couldn’t get any weirder.”

Merlin laughed despite himself - a clear sound that had everyone else in the room feeling just a little better about things. “Trust me, my friend - you have no idea just how strange it really is.” With that said, the mood went down slightly - normally after a statement like that, Darcy would have chimed in with a quip that would have sent them all laughing. 

“Have you determined where she’s being held?” Arthur asked. His arms were crossed over his chest, looking at them all like a general surveying his troops. He had fallen back into his default mode as a leader - these might not have been the men that he trained and had fought alongside for over a decade, but his daughter trusted them. That would have to do.

“Not yet.” Tony said, tapping on the earpiece that he had in to let them know that it was there. JARVIS was keeping him updated on anything that he found, but so far he hadn’t found much. “We’re still working on that.”

“If we're going to rescue Darcy,” Merlin said grimly, looking at his husband, “Then you're going to need a sword.”

“He has a sword.” Jane pointed out, actually pointing to the weapon hanging at his side. But Merlin shook his head, and Adrastia smiled - a wide one that showed off far too much teeth for any of their liking. 

“Not the right one.” he said, and started down the hall, looking in every room that he passed. The rest of them followed along behind him like a flock of ducklings, all of them wondering what he was about to do. He had already turned from an old man into a relatively young one - they weren’t sure what he was capable of. He kept walking until he found the room that he was looking for, and grabbed Arthur’s hand before pulling him inside.

The Avengers followed them, all nine people crowded inside of one tiny bathroom. Merlin turned on the tap, letting the water fill up the sink. Someone muttered, ‘Did we come in here to watch him wash his hands?’ - it was either Tony or Clint, Jane wasn’t sure which. She wasn’t even sure if they were wrong. Until Merlin reached into the water, his eyes glowing in the bathroom mirror. When he pulled his hand out, it was wrapped around the hilt of a sword, and Arthur smiled when he recognized it. The former manservant handed Excalibur to its rightful bearer, and the Avengers were speechless as the Once and Future King slipped the sword into his scabbard.

“Time to save a princess.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SUPRISE! There's one last early arrival... see if you can figure out who it is before it's revealed at the end of the chapter.

Everything looked brighter than it should have been, but at the same time darker. He kept his head down, pretending to take another mouthful of beer even as he kept an ear out for anything going on. This was where things went down, where things happened and no one heard a single word about them. All the best gossip was found in taverns, as everyone knew. _In pubs,_ he corrected himself. 

No one called them taverns anymore.

But that was beside the point. His contacts in the underworld had let him know that something big was going down soon, and the Captain had demanded that he find out what it was as soon as possible. That was why he was stuck in a dingy pub - bar, he corrected himself again - in the middle of the day, pretending to get sloshed.

Someone came through the front door, and it took almost all of his willpower to keep himself looking straight ahead. It went against all of his training to keep his back to the door, but there were some things that he had to do in order to keep his cover. And the - frankly disgusting - mirrored bar back was still clean enough to use to watch the room around him.

He watched as two men carried a girl towards the back room of the pub. Something about it didn’t seem to be quite right - they were struggling, she wasn’t helping them carry her at all. Even if she was blacked out drunk, which was unlikely this early in the day, she still would have been able to help them a little. And then her head lolled to one side. She was unconscious, or at the very least drugged.

As much as he wanted to pull out his badge then and there, call in the SWAT team and take the place down, he couldn’t. He had no information, no idea what was going on at all. This could be a one-time deal, or there could be an entire warehouse of girls downstairs. He needed more information before he could do anything - that was what his superiors told him. But there was a voice in the back of his head that told him to go ahead and look into it. He was the leader, the second-in-command. It was his job to find out what was happening and then lead the charge.

He had spent his entire life ignoring that voice - this was the first time that he listened to it. So he drained what was left in his glass and then climbed off of his stool, putting a bit more sway in his step than was strictly necessary. Waving off the barman, he stumbled back towards the washroom, running a hand over his face and through his curls, pretending to attempt to sober up. He wasn’t the best at acting drunk - that had been… he couldn’t remember. He did remember that they were the best at pretending to be drunk because they usually didn’t have to pretend.

Once he was out of sight of the bar, he straightened up - nearly hitting his head against a low-hanging sign - and started poking around. There weren’t that many places that they could have gone, and so he decided to just poke around. The first place that he checked was the bathrooms, but there was no one there. Not that he blamed them - he wouldn’t want to go in them, either. That left him with two options - either the kitchens, or the cellar. He made an educated guess and decided that it wasn’t the kitchens, which left him with one option left.

The cellar.

Using his gun in an enclosed area wouldn’t be helpful, but there were a few metal rods - he thought they might have been used to scrape out fryers, although he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know if he was wrong. So he grabbed one of those, holding it carefully. The long piece of metal in his hand almost felt right, in a way that he couldn’t quite explain. He opened the door slowly, making sure that there wasn’t anyone down there who was waiting to kill him. He had been blindsided far too many times in his life to deal with it happening again.

The place was empty. He started down the stairs, flashlight in one hand and improvised weapon in the other. He was only halfway down the steps when he heard noises from further down - someone trying to muffle their sounds of pain. “Hello?” he called out, keeping his voice low. Whoever was down there, he doubted it was the kidnappers.

“Who’s there?” it was a woman’s voice - she sounded scared, and in pain. He moved just a little bit faster down the stairs - if there was someone else down here, they would have already started shooting. That, or their victim would have hopefully warned him.

He made his way down the stairs, searching for a minute before he saw the woman mostly hidden behind a stack of crates. She flinched when he came up behind her, and he slowed down. It wouldn’t do to save this girl just to have her knock him out in her fear. “It’s alright - I’m with the NYPD.”

“You’re British.” she pointed out, surprisingly put-together for someone who had just been abducted. He was almost afraid to know why that was - maybe she was some sort of high-profile target that had this sort of thing happen to her every other week. “What are you doing with the NYPD?”

“Paying off my student loans, I’m afraid.” he replied, giving her a wry smile. A flash of recognition passed through her eyes when he knelt down in front of her, although he wasn’t exactly sure why - he had never seen this girl before. Long dark hair was loose around her shoulders, and there were a few bruises on her pale skin. Other than that, she didn’t look like she was too hurt. “But don’t worry, my lady, I’ll get you out.”

“Be careful - the people who grabbed me are probably still around here somewhere.” the girl said. While he was sure that he had never seen her before in his life, there was still something about her that made him sure that he knew her. Her hands were shackled behind her, and she looked to be in pain. But despite everything, she was still worried about him.

“Shouldn’t you be more worried about yourself?” he asked, smiling wryly. He looked behind her, wincing when he saw the cuffs around her wrists. They looked to be an inch thick, and were already hurting her if the irritation and redness on her wrists was any sign.

“Maybe.” the girl admitted, giving a half-hearted smile. She shrugged her shoulders as best she could with her hands shackled behind her, and his heart almost broke at her quiet cry of pain from the movement. “But I've been through worse.”

“Somehow, that doesn’t reassure me.” He scoffed, shaking his head as he tried to undo the ropes around her ankles. Whoever had tied them had done an excellent job on the knots. “How’d you end up here, anyway?

“I have dangerous friends.” the girl shrugged - she seemed very accepting that these friends of hers put her into danger. “Apparently I'm the best way to get to them - I think I should be flattered.”

“I’m going to get you out of here, alright?”

She shook her head, keeping her eyes on the door. He was almost glad that she was the one who had been grabbed, he wasn’t sure how many other people would have been able to stay this calm in the middle of everything. “Just go, before they come back here. You’re as good as dead if they find you.”

He hesitated - he didn’t want to leave her here alone, but he also didn’t feel right leaving her behind. “I can’t do anything.” he admitted. He might have been a police officer, but that didn’t mean anything - most of the cops that he worked with hated him because he wasn’t from here, not that he minded having an excuse to stay away from him. But when he was a child, he had always dreamed of making a difference in the world - protecting people that needed protecting, saving those in need. “I’m not a hero.”

“It's something my uncle taught me.” Darcy groaned, looking at the man in front of her through bleary eyes. She couldn't quite make out his face, but she had a feeling that she knew who he was despite that. While it had been hundreds of years since she had seen any of her uncles, and their memories had faded with time, there was still something about them that always made her magic sing. “That titles don't mean anything. It's what's inside that counts.”

“He sounds like a wise man.”

But the woman laughed. “Nah.” She disagreed, watching as he fiddled with the chains keeping her attached to the wall. “He was more of a loveable drunk than anything. Fiercely loyal, but a drunk all the same.”

“Still sounds like a good man, at least.” he watched her fidget with the cuffs on her, grimacing. “Those are hurting you - give me a second and I’ll see if I can get them off of you.”

“I’ll spare you the trouble of trying.” she said dryly, and he couldn’t help but laugh. She seemed like a sweet girl - the last thing that he wanted was to see something happen to her. “Go to Avengers Tower and tell them Darcy sent you. They’ll come and get me.”

“I don't want to leave you here alone.” he said, looking worried.

“I’ll… I’ll be fine.” she reassured, giving him a small smile. “They’ll be here soon.”

“You don’t sound fine.” 

She smiled again, but it was strained. He knew why - they were running out of time before someone came down here to check on her. “I will be, I promise.” she repeated, speaking quickly. “Just do what I asked, Uncle. Please.” He ignored her calling him ‘uncle’, figuring that it was some sort of stress reaction - that she was talking to someone who wasn’t actually there.

8888

He hurried back up the stairs before remembering that he was supposed to be playing drunk. The last thing that he needed was to make them suspicious by going in the back drunk and coming out sober, racing out like he had found something that he wasn’t supposed to. So he stumbled a bit, waving off the offer of a cab and walking out the door. He was running by the time he was halfway down the block - he might not have been a native New Yorker, but everyone who had lived in the city for at least a few years knew how to get to some basic landmarks. That included Avengers Tower.

He ran as fast as he could, glad that the pub that he had been in was only in Hell’s Kitchen - it wasn’t far enough away that he would have to try for a taxi or the subway. Sometimes, running was faster than anything else, although he did sometimes get a strange longing for a horse.

He raced into the lobby, his badge in hand just in case anyone tried to stop him. Surprisingly enough, no one did. Then he saw why - the Avengers were already in the lobby. He barely slowed down, calling out to them as he raced across the room. “Oh good, you’re already here! There’s a woman…” 

A man turned to look at him - gold hair and silver armor, and a golden dragon on a crimson background. He knew that man, had grown up alongside him a long, long, time ago. “Leon?” the man asked, looking shocked.

“Arthur?” Leon replied, eyes locked on his king. Memories were filling his head, ones that he never knew that he had.

Of course, the older memories came first - those of his family and life before becoming a squire. Training to be a knight, and growing up alongside the prince that he would one day serve. The pair of them were friends from the beginning, even before Leon was marked as the First Knight of Camelot. Then Merlin came to the city, and the rest was history.

Slowly, later memories started to filter in - Arthur being crowned as king, with Merlin by his side as King Consort. Repealing the ban on magic, and his relief when it had been passed - despite Uther’s fanatical views on the subject, a lot of people had managed to make it through the Purge unharmed, and still practiced magic in the lower towns. Leon hadn’t been able to count the amount of times that he had saved someone from the pyre just by giving someone a warning to be more careful instead of arresting them like he was supposed to. The only time that that plan backfired on him was when he finally came clean to Arthur about it, right before he and Merlin got married.

And then a tiny babe, with big blue eyes and thick curls of hair, who entertained herself by setting her father's beard on fire. Not that anyone blamed her, he mused, because that beard was awful - most of the knights had conspired on ways to get rid of the thing at one point or another. Not that he would tell his king that, of course.

That was when he remembered the girl from earlier, and his badge fell from his hand in his shock. “Darcy…”

Just like that, any hope of a happy reunion was put aside - they could exchange tales later on, once the princess was safe. There were times when it felt like Leon had spent lifetimes rescuing Pendragons from scrapes - and he was counting the times that he had had to save Merlin, even before he and the prince had revealed their feelings for each other. Still, he wouldn’t have things any other way. “You’ve seen our daughter?” Merlin asked, taking a few steps forward. There was a mixture of hope and desperation in his eyes, one that would have made anyone nervous.

“No, just felt like randomly shouting her name out.” both Merlin and Arthur started at that - it was rare for Leon to say much, let alone be that sharp with either of them. Normally he took on the role of the protective older brother and left most of the sass to Merlin.

“Are all of you this sassy?”

Merlin snorted. “Where d’you think Darcy learned it from?”

Leon nodded in agreement, before picking up on something that he had heard while talking to his niece - who now looked to be only a few years younger than him, which was going to take some getting used to. It hadn’t stuck with him earlier, but now that he knew who she really was in confused him. “Why was she American?” he asked.

Merlin shrugged. “We’ve spent three hundred years here, she picked up on the accent.”

“Right then.” Leon said. The part of him that was used to leading his knights into battle was already planning the best way to take the building. But the part of him that had come over to the US to study criminal justice and had become a police officer was just in awe of the fact that he was standing next to the Avengers. “She was… that way, in a bar.”


	14. Chapter 14

The rescue itself was almost anticlimactic in the end, at least by the Avengers’ standards. 

Leon led them back to the bar that he had come from - when asked, his only explanation for why he had been at a bar at ten in the morning was that he ‘was doing his job’. Both Merlin and Arthur didn’t seem to find that strange at all - according to them, Leon had always been dedicated to doing his job and doing it well. Even if they did tease him for just a moment about acting like someone named Gwaine.

The bar was empty when they got there except for a lone line cook and a bored bartender. Even in Manhattan the cocktail crowd wasn’t up and moving until at least noon. She didn’t even bat an eye when they came crashing into the building, a sign that she was a born-and-raised New Yorker. 

It was Arthur who led the charge, with Leon behind him - his hand instinctively moving to pull his sword from a scabbard that wasn’t there. Arthur kept the room occupied, taking down the sole person who looked to be any sort of a threat without his sword, before pulling it out to make sure that everyone else stayed where they were. Leon was instructed to lead them to the princess by his king - he was the only one who knew where she was, after all. He led them through the building only after telling both of Darcy’s parents to stay outside. They didn’t even pretend to listen, something that didn’t even phase the man. He just continued the charge, taking them into the back of the restaurant and to the door that led to the basement.

“Darcy.”

She was almost shaking, her skin pale and teeth clenched. Any other time she would have smiled at them all, a sarcastic quip already on the tip of her tongue. But they could tell that she was in pain - despite her best efforts to hide it, it was written all over her face. The kegs stacked around the room almost hid her from view, and the whole place smelled a bit too much like stale beer for their liking.

As much as the Avengers wanted to check on their friend, this wasn’t their moment and they knew it. So they stayed back, letting her family take the lead. Merlin was the first to approach her, the other men too caught up in the idea that it was Darcy in front of them to actually take those last few steps. It had all felt like a particularly pleasant dream to them until then - the idea that they had a second chance at life like this - until now. Now they were dealing with the reality of what had called them back from Avalon. 

Merlin was only a few feet away when he saw something that had him jumping back, almost tripping over himself in his hurry to get away from his daughter. Tony almost said something about it until he saw the pain written on the other man’s face - he didn’t want to be away from her, something was holding him back. He got his answer a few seconds later. “Someone get those things off of her.” Merlin ordered, his face pale. Leon scrambled to do as the sorcerer commanded, but couldn’t get them off of her - they were too tight. Tony was the one to get them off of her - carefully working with a repulsor beam to cut through the metal. While he worked, he couldn’t help but be curious about what was happening - he had never seen someone react to metal like that before. Even metal allergies usually took a bit longer to set in, Darcy had only really been gone for a little under forty-eight hours.

“What is it?” Tony asked, eyes focused on the metal underneath him. If he wasn’t careful, he would end up hurting Darcy. But even as most of his attention was focused on the laser that he was wielding, he kept an ear open to listen to everything going on around him.

“Iron - it inhibits magic and burns like fire.” the sorcerer said, disgust written clearly on his face. Although whether the disgust was aimed at the iron itself or the fact that it was keeping the man from going near his daughter, none of them could say. 

The pieces fell apart, and Tony grinned. “Got it.” he barely had time to get the words out before he was pushed out of the way - and surprisingly, not by Merlin. The NYPD cop with the curls and the kind eyes was apparently someone that both the sorcerer and the king of Camelot knew was not something that any of the Avengers had expected. Of course, neither had Merlin or Arthur. But the man - Leon, Natasha had heard Arthur say - picked up the tiny brunette like she weighed nothing, holding her in a bridal carry as he moved towards the stairs. Her eyes had closed the second that Tony had gotten the cuffs off of her, all of the tension releasing from her body like her strings had been cut.

“Papa?” her voice was little more than a whisper, eyes still closed as she curled into the man carrying her. Natasha was surprised - while Darcy was free with hugs, she had noticed that the other woman wasn’t really the cuddling type unless she knew them well. But if Merlin and Arthur were to be believed, this Leon was someone that Darcy had known since she was a baby.

Merlin hurried to keep pace with the knight as they left the building, his husband’s hand clutched in his. “Yes sprog, I’m here.” Arthur had kept quiet the entire time so far, something that Merlin would be sure to ask him about later. The Once and Future King hadn’t made any commands, issued a single order - it was like he had been struck mute. And seeing his daughter looking so fragile, Merlin could understand why. 

“I thought I saw…” her voice trailed off, like she was trying to get her thoughts together. She was drunk off of the fact that there was no more pain, nothing hurting her. Merlin couldn’t even imagine - just touching iron burned. He couldn’t begin to think about what she had gone through, being locked in it for so long. “Uncle Leon was here.” she finished.

Leon chuckled - not in actual amusement, more in shock that this was actually real. “I’m still here, my princess.” 

“They’re coming back, Papa.” Darcy said, with a thicker accent than any of them had ever heard her use before. Merlin was just glad that she was still speaking in English - he didn’t think her friends would be able to take any more surprises for the day. “We always knew that they would.”

8888

They took her to medical the minute that they got back to the tower - she has been unconscious since they left the building, finally passing out from the pain of the cuffs that they had put on her. Her wrists were chafed and inflamed, burned red from the iron. The second that she had arrived, Adrastia was by her side - a greyhound-sized dragon rumbling threateningly at anyone who dared to get within two feet of her. Eventually, Merlin managed to get her to curl up near the door - close enough to protect her princess in the off chance that anything happened, but far enough away as to not cause problems. After that, the nurses were finally able to treat her wounds.

Both Merlin and Arthur had been held back from seeing her yet, something that neither man had been happy with. But they had had their moment for the day - now was the time for her new family to help her. They could come in later.

Once she was conscious again - and had been given several warnings from Natasha about situational awareness - the whole story finally came out. As she signed herself out of medical - despite everyone’s protests, Darcy managed to convince them all that she was perfectly fine - she told them everything. The time for hiding the truth was over, there was no going back anymore. Adrastia was practically sitting in her lap as she sat in the common area, telling them the truth. She glossed over most of it - a thousand years of stories was too much to tell in one sitting. She told them about the beginning of her life, mostly - Camelot, and the eventual realization that neither she nor her father would actually die. She told them about the prophecy of the Once and Future King. That someday, he would return, and Albion would come with him.

She told them the highlights of the rest of her life - how all of the stories that she had ever told them were true, being best friends with Peggy Carter and helping her to start up SHIELD in the end, being a silent partner, hidden in the background the entire time. Peggy did all of the work, really - she was just there for moral support through it all. She told them about what happened during the Battle of New York - fighting Loki off and keeping him from finding her and Jane. That earned her impressed looks from all of them, and a look from Thor that said he would have been hugging her if she wasn’t so injured.

They didn’t seem as angry as she had always thought that they would be - in fact, they didn’t seem to even be surprised. All of their faces were even, none of them were even flinching at the sheer amount of information that they were getting.

Darcy looked at them all. “You already knew, didn’t you?” she asked. Steve nodded. 

“Your father broke into the Tower and told us everything.”

She raised an eyebrow, but then laughed. “That explains why none of you are freaking out about ‘Dras.” she said, shaking her head as she ran her fingers down the dragon’s spine. “Where is he, anyway?” she continued, looking around. “I thought he would be here, fussing like an old mother hen.”

“We kicked him out.” Clint admitted, flopping down on the couch next to her. “He was making the doctors nervous.” the rest of the team was gathered around her, to the point where she could feel the tension in the room relax a bit now that everyone was on the same page. 

It was at that moment that the sorcerer in question popped his head around the doorframe, surveying them all. His eyes narrowed slightly when they landed on his daughter, and Darcy sighed under her breath. She knew that look - it never meant anything good for her unless it was aimed at someone else. “Have you finished talking yet?” he asked, eyes sweeping across the room.

“Yeah, Dad.” 

“Good.” Merlin came into the room, making a beeline for his daughter. “I’m going to be very angry with you later on, sprog - so is Leon.” he warned, pulling her into a fierce hug. Darcy melted a little - her dad had always given some of the best hugs, the only person who could ever beat him was her father. “For right now, I’m just glad you’re alright.”

She couldn’t help but laugh despite herself at the way that he practically covered her with his body, curling into his side like she was a kid again. But she froze when he pulled away a little, turning his head to yell back into the other room. “Oi, dollophead!” he shouted, voice excited. “Get in here!”

She was concerned - she hadn’t heard him sound that excited since World War One, when they had both been sure that Arthur was going to show up at any moment. “Dad, what are you talking about?” she asked, and then froze. Someone else was there, coming into the room. A blonde someone, and for a moment she would have thought it was Steve if not for another key feature. The same blue eyes that she saw every time she looked into a mirror. “Father?”

“You've grown.” Arthur said, drinking in the sight of his daughter. She was covered in dirt and dust, her hair a mess and her clothes ripped and torn. She had refused to wait for someone to bring her new clothes in the hospital, wanting nothing more than to leave the medical floor behind. But he still saw her as she was before he left for battle the last time - hair tightly braided down her back and eight years old, blue eyes sad as she watched him march away to battle with the rest of the troops. It was just weird to see her like this now - it felt like no time had passed, and yet she was fully-grown and standing in front of him.

“Father.” her voice was soft and wavering slightly, like it always had when she was scared. Merlin moved to the side, letting her up off of the couch. She moved slowly across the room, almost in some sort of a trance until she stood in front of him.

She almost came up to his chin now - something new and unexpected, although logically she would have grown since the last time he saw her. Still, he had always remembered her as being so tiny and fragile - the first time that he had held her, he had been afraid that he would break her accidentally. For the first few months he had walked on eggshells, too afraid of hurting her to hold her for more than a few minutes at a time. Now that baby was gone, replaced with a beautiful young woman. Arthur wasn’t sure if he was sad about that, or just proud.

“Hello, my little princess.” Arthur said, and that was all either of them needed to start crying. She ran up to him, tears streaming down her cheeks as he wrapped her in a hug. She breathed in the smell - wood and smoke and something faintly metallic. She had used to only come up to his waist, but now her head was pressed against his neck as he held her close, one hand cupping the back of her head as she cried into his shoulder.

Her father was finally home.

8888

After the Pendragons’ reunion, the team settled down, ready to find out everything that they could. Darcy, Arthur, and Merlin all sat on one couch, curled up together. Arthur was in between the two brunettes, unwilling to let either of them out of his sight. The rest of the team was on the surrounding furniture - Steve, Thor, and Jane on one couch, Tony, Pepper, and Bruce on another. Natasha sat in the only chair, and Clint was on the floor at her feet, his back pressed against her legs.

“But the Merlin in the legends is always an old man.” Bruce said, looking rightfully confused. “How can that be the case when you look so…” he trailed off, gesturing to the baby-faced sorcerer.

“Idiotic?” Arthur offered, dodging the half-hearted slap that his husband sent his way. The sorcerer was still too much in awe that the other man was even there to do much more than that.

“Prat.” Merlin replied fondly. He was curled up on Arthur’s lap, his husband’s arms wrapped around him. They were a striking pair - the king was blonde and tan, muscular and tall. He had a strong jawline and piercing blue eyes, and watched the room with the mindset of a soldier, cataloguing everything he saw. Merlin was the opposite - pale and dark-haired, slender but still muscular. He wasn’t paying much attention to the room, but that was because of the wards that he had already set up the moment that they had brought Darcy back home.

“I was going to say young.” Bruce continued, not really sure how to take the legendary king’s reply. The pair bickered like an old married couple, something that he had never thought he would have been able to say about literal living legends.

“Yes, I suppose that that would apply as well.” Arthur replied. Despite the disinterest in his words, he was practically making heart-eyes at the other man as he stared at him. “I still prefer my answer, of course.”

“Have they always been like this?” Natasha asked, leaning over slightly to whisper the words into her friend's ear. Her red hair brushed over Darcy’s shoulder. 

But Darcy shook her head, still smiling like a fool at the sight of her Papa sitting in her Father's lap. When she was a kid it had been embarrassing to watch them cuddle like that. Now it was just sweet. “Normally they're worse.” she admitted. Natasha just nodded, digesting the information - and if there was a hint of a smile on her lips, no one else in the room noticed.

“So shortstack is your kid.” Tony said, looking skeptical. “Got any proof?”

“Only several months worth of singed eyebrows.” Arthur muttered, even as he smirked in his daughter’s direction. Darcy buried her head in her hands, while Merlin snorted out a laugh. 

“I can't believe you still remember that.” he said, then turned to the Avengers. “I've got several hundred years worth of embarrassing stories as well - shall I start with the Kraken?” He asked, turning to smile at his daughter. It was an evil smile, one that promised mayhem and stories that she didn’t want her friends to ever hear.

“I was eleven and lonely.” she protested, pulling a face at her father. “Besides, do you want me to bring up the donkey story?”

“You weren’t even born yet!” Arthur protested, looking at his daughter in shock. “How do you even know that story?”

“Yeah, but it’s still funny.” she shot back.

“Sorry, but is anyone else dying to know how two men managed to have a kid together?” Bruce asked. She could see the gears in his head turning, churning out a thousand different questions. She knew that that number would only grow with the more questions that she answered, so she had to move quickly. Otherwise they would be stuck here for the next few days while her scientists asked all of their questions.

Merlin smiled, waving his fingers in the air in a manner eerily similar to his daughter. “Magic.” He said, then winced. “And a lot of pain.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “The Old Religion blessed us with a daughter.” he elaborated. His voice had dropped into a deeper cadence, the same one that he used when trying to impress visiting kings and diplomatic parties. “After the end of my father’s Reign of Terror, and our work to repeal the ban on magic, we were blessed with her. My sister said that it was thanks from the Triple Goddess herself for stopping the persecution of her people.”

“The Old Religion?” that caught Thor’s attention. Jane had been watching him since both of Darcy’s parents had appeared - the millenia-old alien prince was trying very hard to keep his cool. From what she had managed to piece together, the tales of the Round Table had even managed to reach Asgard, and the princes had been raised on the tales.

“Aye.” Arthur nodded. “I didn’t believe in it at first either, but it is real. Although my daughter or husband would be better suited to teach you about it.”

Merlin winced - he was far more used to what he and his daughter jokingly called ‘New’ English at that point. The only time that they used anything else anymore was when they were practicing spells or if they were speaking in the old tongue because they missed home. It was almost strange to hear his husband speak in Old English at this point, just because it had been so long since he had last heard it. “Right - first thing I’m teaching you is how to talk like a modern human. You’re still stuck in the dark ages.”

But with that said, he turned to the Avengers and launched into an explanation of the Old Religion - and by association, reincarnation. Darcy took in the looks on her friends’ faces and got up from where she was sitting. She signaled for Thor to help her - he was the only one of them who already knew all of this stuff - and the pair headed for the elevators.

8888

Arthur had to hand it to his daughter - the people that she had surrounded herself with were certainly protective of her. Particularly the ones that were dubbed as ‘scientists’ - Merlin had called them scholars to explain to his husband what they were. But out of all of the warriors in the room, it was the quiet redhead that caught his attention the most. She didn’t say much, and what she did say was quiet, measured - like she was piecing everything together in her head and didn’t want to speak until she had figured it all out. Even sitting still, just quietly listening, she looked dangerous.

Merlin finished his story, and there was a moment of silence before anyone said anything at all. Unsurprisingly, it was Tony who spoke first. “Sorry, no.” he said, shaking his head. He pulled himself away from Pepper, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his thighs. “Still not buying it.” He couldn’t - he could believe in magic in the terms of Clarke’s Law, but that was it. Not this ‘destiny, fate, reincarnation’ stuff.

“Will this help you believe?” Darcy asked as she walked back into the room. Thor followed behind her, carrying the large wooden chest that he remembered from his first meeting with his Lady Jane and the Lady Darcy.

“What is it?” Tony asked, curiosity written into every bit of his face. That was what kept him going, that curiosity. Today had given him more than enough new information to keep him going for a while, but he still wanted more.

Merlin sat up just a little bit straighter, noticing the familiar layers of enchantments on the box in question. They had put them there when Camelot was finally overrun by invaders - almost one hundred years after Arthur’s death. “Is that what I think it is?” he asked. He only saw the carvings on the lid for a moment before it was opened - a dragon with wings spread carved into the middle, and a border made up of dragons and trees.

Jane’s eyes lit up at the sight of the thing. “Does this mean we finally get to find out what’s in the box?” she asked, almost jumping up from her seat in her excitement. “I’ve been dying to know since New Mexico.”

Darcy smirked - Jane wasn’t kidding. The amount of times that she had caught her friend casting longing glances in the box’s direction was impressive - still, Jane had managed to control her urges and not do anything more than that. She regained control over her body, settling into the position that her Aunt Morgana had drilled into her from an early age. Shoulders back, stomach in, pinky out and lift the chin. “May I present King Arthur Pendragon, leader of Albion, Slayer of beasts, protector of people, The Once and Future King.” Darcy said solemnly, none of her usual teasing present in her voice. Her voice was soft and almost lilting, her accent that she almost always managed to hide away coming out in full force now. With a flick of her hand and her eyes glowing gold, a heavy golden crown came floating out of the trunk to land on Arthur’s head.

“May I present the King's Consort, King Merlin Pendragon, leader of Albion, healer of people and teacher of magic, known as Emrys to the Druid people, the last Dragonlord.” her eyes glowed again, and a slightly less elaborate crown came out of the chest, floating over to land on the sorcerer’s head. Both men stood up just a little bit straighter, and Thor dropped to a knee, bowing his head in respect. Merlin blushed, ushering him up off of the floor. 

But as he looked at the rest of the Avengers, he could still see the skepticism on a few of their faces. “We have pictures, if you want to see them.” he offered. And while his offer was aimed at his daughter’s friends, it was mainly meant for his husband, who hadn’t gotten to see his daughter grow up.

Of course, his offer only made Tony more skeptical. “From Camelot?” he asked, and Darcy snorted. As amazing as it would have been to have pictures of that time, the technology hadn’t been invented yet. And there were some things that even magic couldn’t do.

“Of course not - we have tapestries of that.” Darcy said, smiling when Merlin waved his hand as he cast a spell, bringing the giant photo albums from his flat in London to the penthouse in Manhattan. She remembered those albums fondly - she had bought the first one in the 1850s, and they had both added to their collection over the years. “But we do have pictures of the last two hundred years or so.”

8888

Before they even opened the photo albums, Merlin had pulled out ancient tapestries and portraits - held together by preservation spells and not much else. They were done in rich colors, illustrating scenes of battles and coronations. But the one that intrigued them all the most was a portrait of three people - Arthur, Merlin, and Darcy. The princess was barely two years old, held in her father’s arms. Both kings were dressed in their finery, a familiar wooden staff in Merlin’s hands and a gleaming sword at Arthur’s side. Darcy’s eyes were painted in gold, and one hand was fisted in her father’s beard, yanking on it.

After that, there were other pictures, usually a few years apart at first - photographs were expensive for the first few decades that they were available. After that they were more readily available, and the pictures became more frequent. The rest of the team was looking over some photos from the nineteen fifties, but Steve was still stuck on the portrait.

“So you two were married.” Steve asked, and both Darcy and Merlin tensed. The era that the ‘Man with a Plan’ had grown up in wasn’t exactly the most tolerant. But the supersoldier didn’t say anything more, just waited for a response.

Finally, Arthur responded. He draped an arm over Merlin’s shoulder, pulling the other man just a little bit closer. “For fifteen years.” he confirmed, smiling warily. He could feel the tension in his husband and daughter, and while he wasn’t sure why it was there, he knew that it couldn’t mean anything good. Of course, then Merlin had to open his mouth and start teasing.

“Feels more like fifteen thousand.” he said, dodging the elbow that his husband tried to jab him with. He smiled at the blonde, pressing a kiss to his cheek that had him blushing.

“But what about Guinevere?” Steve asked, looking confused. He remembered the legends of King Arthur well - his mother had read them to him as a child when he was too sick to get out of bed. “Guinevere and Lancelot was my favorite story when I was a kid - what happened to them?”

Arthur just looked confused in return, the question throwing him for a loop. “Guinevere and Lancelot? What about them?”

Leon snorted, making people jump - most of them had forgotten that he was even there. “As if.” he shook his head, certain in the way that only someone who had accidentally walked in on the people in question too many times could be. “Gwen would never - she and Morgana were made for each other.”

“We kept the stories of Camelot alive… until the Church started burying stories that they didn't approve of.” Merlin explained, a dark look crossing his face. “So we changed the narrative. Had poor Gwen married to the prat instead of ‘Gana.” he sighed dramatically, a smile crossing his face as he teased his husband. “I have no idea how she managed it, being married to you. Even just in stories.”

“Although where the story about Auntie Gwen and Uncle Lance came from, I've got no idea.” Darcy added, looking disgusted at the very thought. They were both incredibly sweet people, but Lancelot’s duties held all of his attention, while Morgana held all of Gwen’s. 

The two had feelings for one another at a point, but neither of them ever acted on it. Gwen was too happy with Morgana to ever even think about anyone else, and Lancelot respected that. But Arthur shook his head, a small smirk on his face. “Poor Guinevere was too in love with my harpy of a sister.” he moaned. He was teasing, of course - as much as he loved his sister, Merlin would think that he had been cursed if he started to be too nice to his sister. Still, he was surprised to hear what his husband and daughter had done. Not the fact that they had protected his sister and sister-in-law, but the lengths that they had gone to to protect them both.

“Be nice to Morgana.” Merlin chided, delivering a solid elbow to Arthur’s ribs.

“Why should I?” Arthur asked, sounding offended. “She isn’t nice to me.”

“She’s not here to defend herself right now.”

“Fine.”

“Wait,” Darcy said excitedly, her eyes lighting up as she thought of something. “Since Father and Uncle Leon are back… does that mean everyone else is coming back as well?”

“Would be nice to have Percy and Elyan back.” Leon mused, excited at the thought of having his brothers-in-arms back at his side. “But maybe we can keep Gwaine away?” he teased. He was kidding, of course - even with as much trouble as the Irishman got them into on a regular basis, there was no one better to have at their backs in times of trouble.

Merlin lit up as well, the two magic-users sharing a look of pure glee even as Arthur paled. The Avengers looked worried - whatever was enough to make King Arthur look like that was something to worry about. 

“What is it?” Steve asked, already on high alert. He was sure that the King would say the name of some terrible evil. Maybe some beast that needed slaying, or a quest to go on. If ancient kings could come back from the dead and magic was real, who knew what kind of trouble they could potentially get into. “Some magical creature that could destroy the world?”

“Worse.” Arthur said gravely. “My sister.”

“Auntie Gana!” Darcy gushed, practically vibrating with excitement. Even Leon looked mildly amused at the prospect of her return.

He came over to sit closer to the Pendragons, slouching against the back of the couch. Even as he sat there, looking completely relaxed, he was on alert, keeping an eye on the royals. “Could do with a bit of entertainment around here.” He said, flashing a grin.

“As in Morgana Le Fay, the evil sorceress that tried to kill you?” Steve asked. He looked worried at the thought, and even more worried at the fact that none of the others seemed worried.

Arthur looked shocked. “I wouldn't call her evil…” he said, speaking slowly as he carefully chose his words. “Overbearing and a harpy, absolutely. But I wouldn’t call her evil.”

His words caused a backlash from the superheroes surrounding them - mostly from Steve and Tony. The pair of them threw out question after question, talking so quickly that no one could keep up, let alone try and answer anything that they were asking. The others just watched in amusement - normally they would have gotten them to calm down at least a little, but it was too fun to watch them go at it.

Finally, Merlin snapped. “Honestly, would you two shut up for two seconds?” he asked, looking exasperated. “Maybe then we could explain things.”

Unfortunately, his request didn’t work - if anything, they just got louder. That was when the scientist wrangler stepped in.

“Silencio.” Darcy said, her eyes flashing gold. Both Steve and Tony tried to keep talking, but no words came out of their mouths.

“What kind of spellcasting was that?” Merlin raged, spluttering his words. Darcy just looked pleased with herself, and Arthur had no idea what was going on but was laughing at the expressions that his husband was making. “Gaius and Kilgharrah would've smacked you for it!"

“You’re just mad I got it to work before you did.” Darcy retorted. “Speaking of, where is Kilgharrah?” she asked. The green-gold dragon rarely strayed far from her father’s side these days - despite how much he pretended otherwise, the mythical being did care about his charge.

“Still making his way from London- give him a minute, he’s got a lot of ground to cover.”

8888

It took a few hours for them to answer all of the Avengers’ questions - and by the time they had finished, Kilgharrah had arrived. 

He was the opposite of what they had expected - although they had based their expectations off of Adrastia. The older dragon was green and gold, and landed on the roof spewing fire, only relaxing when all three Pendragons came to the roof to greet him. Adrastia grew in size to greet him, the pair of them bumping noses. And while the blue dragon was more than capable of talking normally, Kilgharrah seemed to enjoy being as cryptic as possible.

The dragons - shrunk back down to the size of large dogs instead of small buildings - curled around their respective magic users. Their scales shone like gems in the light - one a deep green and one a shimmering blue. But they were missing a pair - a witch with green eyes and a dragon with brilliant white scales.

“Dragons,” Tony said, looking like Christmas had come early. “Real, live, dragons.” He studied the pair of them as closely as he dared - he had originally tried to pick up Kilgharrah, only to be threatened by a face-full of flames. After that, he was far more cautious.

“Why dragons?” Natasha asked, looking as curious as the spy ever did. It was Adrastia who answered, her tail curling possessively around Darcy’s leg. She hadn’t left Darcy’s side for a second since the newly-revealed princess had been returned to Avengers Tower, and she didn’t seem inclined to leave her anytime in the future.

“We protect each other.” the dragon said, her golden eyes scanning the room. “We act as both the first and final line of defense for the Pendragon family, and they keep us safe from those who would have us killed.”

“It’s more than that.” Darcy objected. “‘Dras is my best friend. We’ve spent almost every minute of our lives together. I don’t know what I would do without her.”

The blue dragon grinned at that, chuckling slightly at the way Clint paled at the sight of her teeth. Her princess was home, safe and sound. Everything was going to be alright.


	15. Chapter 15

Of course, the media quickly picked up on the return of King Arthur - it had been relatively easy to hide the man in chainmail and Camelot red, but just a bit harder to hide the dragons that had taken to perching on the roof of Stark Tower. At first the media had claimed it as some sort of Stark Industries publicity stunt - maybe they were planning on a new line of robotic animals, they speculated. Dragons were a bit of a stretch, but then again - it was Tony Stark who most likely had a hand in making them. No one could predict what that man would do next on a given day.

It was the perfect cover for them to use.

They had let people believe that for almost two weeks as they got a strategy together. Pepper Potts had offered to help them set up the press conference that would reintroduce the world to the King of Albion, which both Darcy and Merlin had graciously accepted. Arthur hadn’t, but that was mainly because he didn’t quite understand what exactly a ‘press conference’ was. They had all unanimously agreed to keep him away from the conference itself, mainly because the man had no idea how to respond when things were pushed in his face except to reach for his sword. It wouldn’t be good if he ended up stabbing a reporter. In the meantime, Darcy and Merlin worked to get the golden-haired king up to date on modern times. While he still preferred some old-fashioned things, he was doing well with it.

It was Darcy, Pepper, Tony, and Merlin - back in his old man disguise - that held the press conference. Merlin wasn’t used to such things, but answered as many questions about Albion and King Arthur as he was willing to. It wasn’t many - the warlock had been taking lessons on being cryptic from the dragon.

Once the news was out, there was no stopping the hordes of people that swarmed the tower, claiming to be reincarnations of different members of King Arthur’s Court. Reincarnation had been the most widely accepted explanation for King Arthur's return, and while they had heard stories that Merlin had arrived as well, no one had seen the real Merlin yet except for the Avengers and their associated family. Whenever they had to do press conferences and things of that sort, Merlin would go disguised as a knight, alongside Leon. That way he could still keep an eye on his husband, and keep an eye on the crowds in case things got too out of hand without being crowded himself.

The rest of the Avengers were surprised when the Pendragons didn't seem the least bit worried. “They're imposters, though.” Merlin explained as he helped his daughter with a new spell that he had discovered in his travels. “They know the versions of the legends that Darcy and I made up - they don't know anything about the real Camelot. The only ones that will know the truth will be like Leon - actual reincarnations.”

But as time went on, even the Pendragons began to get tired of people coming up to them. Women professed their love for Arthur, swearing that they were Guinevere and were meant to be his queen. Men tried to persuade Leon and Merlin that they were the knights of the Round Table, only to not be able to tell them which ones they were. Even more came to challenge Arthur for the hand of Guinevere, claiming to be the reincarnations of Lancelot. The only one who didn't get mobbed with people was Darcy, and that was only because her fathers refused to let her announce herself to the world, out of fear that something would happen to her. She wasn't a fan of that decision, but all they had to do was remind her what happened to make Arthur and Leon come back in the first place.

8888

Darcy collapsed onto the couch in the common room, completely exhausted. It had been a week since their press conference, and she had been helping to do damage control and sort through all of the people claiming to be somehow related to the Pendragons. Half of it was keeping newspapers like the Daily Bugle from printing anything too awful about her family - most of what they said was variations on how the Pendragons were liars, and Camelot and Albion weren’t real. Those were easy to control - all that they had to do was post pictures of the two dragons on the Avengers’ Twitter page. 

The rest of it was the people claiming to be related to the Pendragons - their stories became more ridiculous every day. One person claimed to have been King Arthur’s manservant, and as such they should be able to see him right away because the king would need him. That one made them all laugh, and then the Avengers had found it just as funny once the entire situation was explained to them. The rest of them weren’t any better - stories of being knights and ladies of the court, even a few of being the King’s mistress. That one had Arthur paling and rushing to reassure his husband that it wasn’t true. Merlin, of course, didn’t believe that it was true in the first place.

“This is getting ridiculous.” she groaned, one arm coming up to rest over her eyes and the other finding its way to the dragon perched on the back of the couch. She played with the dragon’s left front paw, running her finger along the sharp claws that poked out. “No one else has come back yet, and I’m getting tired of sorting through people.”

“Patience, princess.” her uncle responded, not looking up from what he was doing. She had made the mistake of introducing the knight to YouTube the night before, and he had been sucked into the swirling vortex of cat videos fairly quickly. “They’ll come back in time.”

“I get that, really.” she said, sighing slightly. “But how much longer are we supposed to wait? It may have only been a few months for you and father, Uncle Leon, but it's been centuries for Papa and I. I… I just want my family back.” she admitted, sitting up to face him. Her Uncle Leon had always been one of her closest confidantes, along with her Aunt Gwen. The pair of them were the most level-headed of the group, which meant that they tended to give the best advice. The worst at advice was her Uncle Gwaine - the only thing that he was worth getting advice on was flirting. But he was definitely the most overprotective of her.

“Just wait a little while longer.” he reassured. “They’ll be back.”

8888

“The stories are getting worse and worse.” Merlin snorted, laughing at the tabloids in front of them at the tiny corner bodega. One of them exclaimed in lurid red that they had an exclusive interview with the woman who was pregnant with King Arthur’s child. He threw the magazine issue back down, trading it out for a chocolate bar and a New York Times. Kilgharrah was curled up in the pocket of his jacket, while Adrastia hid in Darcy’s hair. The father-daughter pair made their way through the city, Darcy showing Merlin the sights. The last time that he had been in New York for more than a few hours was back in the nineteen-thirties.

Darcy snorted, shaking her head. “I don’t want to think about that, please.” she requested, shuddering slightly. There were some things that a girl didn’t need to know about her parents, and that was one of them.

Merlin grinned, wrapping an arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “They’ll be back soon, sprog.” he promised. They could both feel it in the air - more of their family was coming, and was coming soon. It was only a matter of time, and seeing who would arrive first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to think that with everything going on, Gwen, Elyan, and Sam Wilson would be leading their respective groups at protests, fighting for justice. While this is a fictional world where inequality and injustice can be wiped out with a few keystrokes, the real world is not that simple. The BLM movement is an important cause, one that needs our help to keep growing. I am white, and I am using my voice - not to speak myself, but to help my friends and co-workers be heard, to turn the narrative over to them. The story is not about us right now, it is about them - our friends, our families, our loved ones. The tides have turned and the winds are changing, and history is being made.
> 
> So I asked my roommate for a few different organizations to link to, and here is her list:  
blacklivesmatter.com  
secure.givelively.org/donate/the-bail-project  
any of the victim funds - you can find them with a quick google search


	16. Chapter 16

A woman walked into Stark Tower - her hair intricately braided and flowing behind her, heels clicking with every step. A small smile was on her face as she took in the architecture around her - so very different from what she was used to, but somehow still familiar. She was dressed in a combination of ancient and modern styles, with the end result being something completely timeless. The SI security guards noticed her the moment that she walked into the building, although even they weren’t sure if they were paying attention to how she looked or the raw power that emanated from her. She was fierce, her eyes like jade as she moved towards the elevators.

The guards at the desk tried to stop her, but her eyes glowed golden as she raised a hand to stop them. “Sorry darling,” she said, eyes glowing again as she magicked the elevator to work. Normally it was controlled by JARVIS and only he could move it. But the AI’s circuits were nothing compared to Morgana’s powers, and the witch quickly won the battle for command of the elevator’s controls. The AI pulled back, shoring up his protections on the rest of the Tower’s systems in case the intruder tried anything else. “But I’m running late - don’t have time to stop and talk.”

Morgana smiled, allowing the hope to rise in her chest as the elevator began to rise. It was well past time for a family reunion. Aithusa peeked out from under her hair, rubbing her cheek against her sorceress’s. The dragon had heard all of the new tales - the ones that painted Morgana as the villain. And while she knew that they weren't true, there was a part of her that worried that the others wouldn't remember that. As always, she didn't need to say a word for Morgana to know what she was thinking.

“Don’t worry, my dear.” she said softly. “I’m sure they’ll be _thrilled_ to see us.”

8888

The Avengers team was settling in for the night - the day had been villain-free for once, and they were celebrating. The team had settled down - Clint and Natasha were cleaning their weapons while they watched a documentary with Jane, Bruce and Tony. Merlin was conducting ‘future lessons’ for Thor, Arthur, and Steve at the kitchen counter, while Leon and Darcy cooked. Leon wasn’t doing much - chopping the things that Darcy asked him to. But Darcy’s eyes were almost always golden - ever since her friends had learned about her magic, she was much more free with her abilities. Ingredients flew across the space, and the stove lit itself. Doors opened on their own, and Adrastia tried to seize bits of meat out of the air. The princess and the knight laughed at the dragon’s antics even as they unsuccessfully tried to throw her out of the kitchen. She would just fly back in everytime, even if Darcy used her magic to send her several floors away.

She was in the middle of her eleventh attempt when she froze, spinning around so quickly that she started to fall in the air. She barely managed to catch herself, twisting in the air so that her wings caught her in time. “Someone’s coming.” Adrastia said, jumping back up to her feet. She prowled to the door, growling under her breath as she went. Darcy prepared herself, and even Merlin was ready. They had grown used to relying on the dragons as a sort of warning system over the centuries, and trusted their instincts with their lives.

"JARVIS hasn't said anything." Tony protested, even as he got ready to summon a gauntlet. The entire Iron Man suit wouldn’t be able to make it before whatever was in the elevator arrived - he would have to use what he had on him. Thor grabbed a hold of Mjolnir, ready to swing the hammer at a moment’s notice. “He would have told us if someone was coming.”

The elevator doors opened with barely a sound, and everyone tensed, preparing for the worst. Instead, there was a moment of silence, to prolong the suspense and create as dramatic of an entrance as possible. “Sorry darling, but I don't let men announce me.” A familiar voice said. Darcy lit up even as the Avengers tensed even further. On the other side of the common area, Leon, Merlin, and Arthur all looked up, warring expressions on all of their faces. The woman in the elevator moved from where she had been leaning against the wall, looking as nonchalant as she could.

She strode into the room, heels clicking against the floor of the common area. Long legs were encased in tight black leather pants, and a flowing low-cut blouse hugged her figure. None of them relaxed in the slightest as the woman moved among them - they were all waiting for some sort of signal to begin the battle. However, there were civilians in the room - there was no chance of the captain initiating a battle of any kind when there were innocents around.

Luckily, this wasn’t someone that they needed protection from. A glint of mischief colored pale green eyes, and Morgana Pendragon smirked, turning to look them all in the eyes. “The bitch is back.” she announced, taking in the looks on her family’s faces. They were all pleased to see her - including Arthur, who was doing his absolute best to hide it.

“Auntie Gana!” Darcy called, racing over.

Morgana braced herself, arms open for her niece. “Hello darling.” she said, when the other sorceress had crashed into her. She pulled her in tighter, just relishing the feeling for a moment. She had been in Dublin for her entire life until now - had only remembered exactly who she was a few days earlier. It had taken her that long to get her things in order and find Aithusa again - the opalescent dragon’s lifeline was tied to her own, so when she was reborn so was the dragon. Still, there must have been something that had managed to bleed through her memories from her previous life. When she had woken up as Morgana Pendragon, she had found herself in a four-poster bed, with the entire suite looking like her rooms back in Camelot. Her reincarnation - Ms. Melody Pembroke - had worked as a diplomatic aide in the US Embassy in Ireland.

“I missed you.” Darcy whispered, burrowing into her aunt’s embrace.

“I missed you too, darling.” she whispered, pressing a kiss to her niece’s hairline. “Look at you, you look amazing!” Morgana said, pulling back from her niece a bit to study her better. Her hair was as dark and thick as Merlin’s, her eyes as blue as Arthur’s. The last time that the pair had seen each other she had looked almost exactly the same, albeit less happy. Now she almost radiated contentment. Morgana smiled - it was a good look on her niece. She held onto the other woman for a minute longer before releasing her, taking a few steps back and surveying the room.

“Is Gwen here?” She asked, turning to look at her brother. There was already a small smile on her face, just from the thought of possibly seeing her wife. “I had hoped she would be with you.” As much as it pained her to admit it, she hadn’t even known that she was married until a few days ago. There had just been this… feeling, like something was missing. Like she was incomplete. Then she got her memories back, and she remembered.

Arthur was slightly hurt that his sister was more worried about Gwen then she was about him, but it made sense. His first priority upon coming back was finding his husband and daughter - it made sense that her priority would be her wife.

Of course, Tony was the first of the Avengers to recover. He flicked his wrist, making the gauntlet wrapped around it shrink away back into the watch that it had come from. He studied the woman in front of him, careful to keep from leering in any way. He could look but not touch, but this woman screamed ‘danger’ - it would be safer for him to not even look. “Why are you Irish?” 

“Tony!” 

The woman in question looked him over, unimpressed by what she was seeing. “Why are you rude and American?” she retorted, a sharp grin spreading across her face.

“Morgana!”

“Touche.” Tony grinned, a hint of respect in his eyes as he watched the other woman. “We’re gonna get along perfectly.”

“Right.” the rest of the Avengers team relaxed ever so slightly at the display from the engineer - if something was going to go down, it wouldn’t be because of him. “So who exactly are you?”

Arthur stepped forward at that, a wry smile on his face. “I’d like for you to meet my sister,” he introduced, smiling when the woman in question curtsied. “the Lady Morgana.”

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His feet pounded against the pavement, the rhythmic thudding soothing him slightly. He wove through the crowds of New Yorkers, big band music playing through his headphones as he continued his run. He still had about nine miles left for his run, and so he picked up the pace slightly. That was the good thing about being Captain America - no one ever really recognized him without a giant star splayed across his chest. It made it easier when he was panicking and wanted to go on a run to clear his mind. Things had become too crazy lately. He could handle battles and strange, futuristic weaponry. He could handle alien invasions and gods from other planets and the actual future. He could handle top secret government organizations and overly flirtatious people and scientists who either wanted to create wormholes to other dimensions or turned into giant green rage monsters.

But adding ancient kings and magic into the mix was too much for him. And now it turned out that everything that he had thought he had known was a lie. The stories of King Arthur had been some of his mother’s favorites, ones that she had told him every time that he was stuck in his bed. To meet his childhood heroes had been one of the best moments of his life - only to then be told that the stories themselves were nothing but lies. 

The Tower was just starting to wake up when he got back - the night shift guards were starting to switch out, and the janitors were starting their duties for the day. It was too early for anyone else to be there just yet - that was how he liked it. It made it easier to get in and out of the building. The average New Yorker might not have known Steve Rogers out of his mask, but the average Stark Industries employee definitely did. 

He froze when he felt someone else enter the kitchen - it was too early for anyone else to be awake, the rest of the team didn’t start to wake up until eight at the earliest. Tony was the only wildcard, there were some nights where he just avoided sleeping completely. Grabbing the juice out of the refrigerator, he slowly turned around. Some of the tension eased out of his body when he saw Morgana Le Fay - Lady Morgana Pendragon, he reminded himself - standing on the other side of the island in the middle of the kitchen. 

“Captain Rogers.” she greeted him, a small smile on her face. Despite the friendliness of the gesture, there was still something about her that made him think that she was just waiting to rip his throat out. She made her way to the coffee maker, using her magic to pull a cup out of the cabinets. A small dragon - pure white in color - sat on her shoulder. Aithusa was much quieter than either of the other dragons were around the Avengers - but when she was interacting with the other dragons or any of the Pendragons’ court, she was as rambunctious as she could be.

“Miss Pendragon.” Steve replied, greeting her with a nod. “Can I help you?”

She poured her coffee, taking a minute to doctor it to her liking. While she did that, the Captain squirmed - he didn’t like the look that she was giving him, like a butterfly pinned to a board. Finally, she spoke. “I understand you don't like me.” 

He worked hard to keep his voice measured as he poured his own coffee. “Where did you get that idea?” he asked - she wasn’t wrong, he had just thought that he had done a better job of hiding his disdain. 

“From every interaction that we’ve had.” she quipped, rolling her eyes. “I understand why, of course - while they didn’t mean it, my niece and brother-in-law did manage to damage my reputation with their tales.” then she paused, studying him as she carefully chose her next words. “However, you would think that you would be more willing to let tales be tales.”

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

She took a sip of her coffee before raising an eyebrow at him. “Only that you don’t seem to be the sweet child that the news has made you out to be.” she didn’t say anything else, just walked out of the room. Steve was left staring at her retreating figure, his mind racing as he did.

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After Morgana’s arrival, the rest of their misfit family began to arrive in twos and threes. First was Guinevere and Elyan, followed by Gwaine, Lancelot, and Percival. They all arrived in Stark Tower, asking for Darcy - even if their kings weren’t there as well, they knew Darcy. 

Guinevere was the biggest surprise to the Avengers - they weren’t sure what they had been expecting, but not the woman that they had met. Gwen was almost the exact opposite of her wife, sweet and sensitive with her heart on her sleeve. She brought out a side of Morgana Pendragon that surprised even Arthur - when the two women saw each other for the first time, both of them had burst into tears. They had raced into each other's arms, just holding each other tightly for a few minutes.

Only Steve managed to pick up on what the women said, his super hearing coming in handy. “I missed you, Gwen.” the Irish woman said, her voice muffled by her wife’s hair. Her face was buried in Gwen’s curls

“I’m here, Morgana. I promise, I’ll always be here.” came Guinevere’s response.

Gwen pulled back first, peppering kisses on her wife’s face, and the gathered Avengers finally got a good look at the other woman. She was a few inches shorter than Morgana, and their height difference was further exaggerated by the heels that Morgana wore. Her hair curled wildly down her back, and big brown doe eyes scanned the room. “Darcy!”

“What, you’re not going to say hello to either of us?” Merlin teased. Arthur had already been distracted by Elyan, with the three knights off in a corner talking. Gwen blushed, narrowing her eyes at her friend. 

“I’ve been living with Elyan for decades, give me a minute to say hello to my wife and my niece before being dragged back into all of your messes.” she teased. None of the knights could say anything in response to that - neither did Merlin. But Darcy and Morgana smiled, and Darcy could feel her magic settling around her. 

Everything was going to be fine. Her family had finally come home.


	17. Chapter 17

Everything was going perfectly.

Her family was back together for the first time in centuries, all of them on her floor of Avengers Tower. Her aunts were bonding with the other women of the Tower - Gwen stuck around Jane, and Morgana stuck around Natasha. Both of them adored Pepper, something that surprised the redhead. No one else was anywhere near as shocked - Pepper was graceful under pressure and sweet to the core, but had a backbone of pure steel and a fiery side when provoked. It was an almost perfect combination of the two women. Her uncles were on the other end of the spectrum, all of them training with the Avengers. And while it wasn’t as hard to get them caught up on modern times since they had grown up in them as reincarnations, it was a bit strange for the Avengers to learn bits and pieces of what life had been like in Camelot. Some things were always the same, no matter what the time period was. 

Everything was going perfectly, until it wasn't anymore. 

It started with the fall of SHIELD - most of them had been in the Tower that day, thankfully. Still, there had been a few different scientists, lab heads, and security personnel that had turned out to be loyal to HYDRA. It had taken all of Darcy’s abilities to keep Bruce from Hulking-out during the attack - that was the last thing that they needed. Adrastia and Gwaine had taken care of the HYDRA agents on the floor that they were on, quickly getting rid of them. The Avengers took care of the rest of the HYDRA agents in the building.

The next few days were pure mayhem - endless scrambling around, trying to recover all of the information that Natasha had leaked online. Tony had asked the magic-users if there was any sort of spell to just recapture the information. As much as they wished that there was, magic and technology didn’t mix like that. But Gwen had come into the conversation, reminding them of a spell that they had used in Camelot - to get rid of any of the information that had been printed off as hard copies. It had taken them a few days to gather all of the ingredients that they needed for the spell, but once they had them it only took a few minutes to cast.

All around the world, hard copies erased themselves, leaving nothing but blank paper behind.

After that, it was re-vetting all of the employees in the entirety of SI, making absolutely sure that none of them were sleeper agents for HYDRA. Thanks to JARVIS, it didn’t take as long as it should have, with the AI able to go through thousands of files in a day. They managed to weed out a few agents, handing them all over to the proper authorities. The only thing that took longer to take care of was reassuring the media that they had everything under control.

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Then there was the re-emergence of magic in the world. That normally would have been an amazing thing, except that most of the world still didn’t really believe that magic existed. And since Darcy would one day be the one to lead the currently being rebuilt magical community, she had to brush up on everything that she had forgotten over the years. That meant paperwork, and lots of it. There were rules on dealing with druid camps, sidhe tribes, and conglomerations of magical beasts. There were different etiquettes for meeting solo sorcerers versus groups of warlocks, and high priestesses had their own specially made set of rules. 

It was all a lot to try and relearn, especially when she didn’t have that much time to relearn it all in. none of it had been relevant in the last few hundred years, and she had forgotten most of what she knew because of that. Morgana and her father tried to help her to the best of their abilities - both of them promising to help her no matter what, but agreeing that there were some things that she would have to learn to do on her own.

There were nights that she would simply pass out in the middle of reading books on myths and lore - while each book usually got at least one detail wrong, on the whole they were fairly reliable. But it didn’t matter when she did. She would just mark her page when she woke up and get back to it as soon as she had free time again. Still, no matter how boring it could get, learning that information was the most important thing to her. It would be vital when the time came for Albion to return.

8888

Darcy had gotten everything back under control. The SHIELDRA files had all been checked over, and any important information had been pulled out and given to the relevant parties. She had finally managed to get her scientists back onto something resembling a sleep schedule, and had even managed to memorize the ridiculous ritual greetings of the Sidhe. And even with the rest of her hectic schedule, she still somehow managed to find time to spend with all of her family, either individually or as a group.

Life was good.

Then Bucky Barnes showed up at the Tower.

Steve had come back a few weeks earlier, with Sam Wilson in tow. Darcy liked Sam - he wasn’t jaded just yet, and could fully appreciate just how weird their lives really were. It was soothing, in a way - to know that someone else saw just how crazy they all were. Not to mention that the dragons loved having him as a flying partner. She liked talking to him.

Bucky just appeared one day out of nowhere - Adrastia was the one that caught him, growing to her full size and pinning him beneath a clawed foot. One eye stayed trained on him while her tail barricaded the door to Darcy’s room. Somehow, the assassin had made it onto the wrong floor. She had kept him there until someone came to get him- Steve, wondering where the other man had gone. The supersoldier had snuck him in in the middle of the night, not telling a soul that the other man was there. On the dark side of things, Steve was in serious trouble with the rest of the team. On the bright side, Tony had managed to fix all the holes in JARVIS’s camera coverage so that it couldn’t happen again.

And, it turned out that being stepped on by a giant mythological lizard was great when you were trying to get rid of seventy years worth of brainwashing. Natasha had called it ‘cognitive recalibration’. Darcy called it ‘being stomped’. Whatever it was called, it had helped - the constant fuzziness that he had felt for years was gone, replaced with a clarity that he couldn’t ever remember having. Not everything was there - there were plenty of memories that he knew he was supposed to have, but didn’t. But that was what therapy was for. That was what Sam was for.

Darcy remembered Bucky - not as well as she remembered Peggy, or even Steve. But he was there, in the background of her memories. A charming smile, a kind eye, a listening ear. They had danced together once, she remembered - a fast number that had resulted in her skirts flying as she was tossed through the air, swing-style.

And while she didn’t go out of her way to talk to him now, she didn’t ignore him either.

Then came the worst news, personally - there had been an information leak from SI.

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None of them even knew that the leak had happened for the first few hours - they were all busy with various projects that they had. Merlin and Steve were working on trying to restore some of Bucky’s memories, Darcy and Gwen were taking care of the scientists, and everyone else was off somewhere. That was when JARVIS told them what was going on outside. Crowds of paparazzi had gathered outside the entrance to Stark Tower, demanding answers about the newly-revealed Princess of Camelot.

It only took a few minutes to discover what had happened - an intern had heard about Darcy, and decided that whatever money the newspapers would give them was worth more than their job security.

The most embarrassing part about being outed as royalty wasn't even the constant stream of marriage offers - which was embarrassing enough purely on principle - it was how differently people treated her. Her family still treated her the same behind closed doors, but in public she didn't go anywhere without at least one bodyguard. Adrastia was by her side at all hours of the day, taking her duty to protect seriously for the first time in centuries. Random people would come up to her in the streets, and paparazzi were snapping pictures everywhere. It was a new beast for all of them - while they were used to gossip, there were no tabloids in Camelot. Gwaine was the only one who seemed to like the new trend, trying to stop and talk to as many of his 'adoring fans' as possible.

It also meant that there was no more unkempt Starbucks runs - while she didn’t care what she looked like for the tabloids, her Aunt Morgana certainly did.

Tony gave her lessons on how to avoid paparazzi, and Natasha showed her how to use makeup and wigs to disguise herself. She stayed in the Tower for the most part after the announcement, only leaving when necessary or when she was able to disguise herself. It was okay, she reassured her family. For the most part, it only took the press a few days to run through the story - they had all seen Arthur and Guinevere, and it was obvious that she wasn’t their offspring.

She had more pressing things to worry about.

8888

She waited until her father and aunt were alone to talk to them - this was the sort of topic that required delicate handling, and if anyone else in the family heard about it things would go downhill quickly. Merlin and Morgana had taken over the common room kitchen - Merlin was working on a potion of some sort, while Morgana sat on the kitchen counter, legs crossed under her and a cup of tea in her hands. The pair were bickering over something, but she didn’t wait to find out what.

“I think something's wrong with my magic.” she blurted out, the words pouring out of her. The conversation came to a halt, two pairs of eyes - one electric blue and one jade green - moving to study her. She blushed under their scrutiny. While logically Darcy knew that there had to have been a better way to say what she did, the words had jumped out of her as soon as she saw the pair. She was worried - her magic had never acted like that before, not in a thousand years.

“What?” her father asked, eyes trained on her like a hawk. “What do you mean?”

“I keep exploding lights and changing the colors of things and somehow I changed all of the food in the kitchen to breakfast food.” Darcy confessed, wringing her hands as she rambled. She wasn’t sure what was happening, and that made her nervous. 

“Why breakfast food?”

“Sam likes it.”

Both Merlin and Morgana relaxed, the tension leaving their bodies as quickly as it came. Instead, her aunt’s eyes sparked with mischief and a small smirk crossed her face. The woman leaned forward, like she was about to impart a juicy secret. “You're in love.”

“What?” her eyes went wide and she stumbled back a step, her heartbeat pulsing in her ears. “No. No no no. Not possible.” she denied. There was no way she was in love - she would know if she was, she had to.

But her aunt grinned, smiling with nostalgia. “When I met Gwen, I almost set my chambers on fire - and that was before I even knew I had magic.” she reminisced. 

Merlin shook his head. “I never did anything like that.” 

Morgana’s eyes sparked gold with mischief. “Oh really?” she asked, head tilting slightly to one side as she studied her brother-in-law. He blushed, already knowing what she was about to say. “I seem to remember an incident where all of Camelot's walls mysteriously turned the same color as Arthur's eyes.” 

Darcy cackled, while her father shrank back just a little. There were some things that even he was embarrassed by. “I don’t know what you're talking about, Morgana.” the king said primly, tossing the last of the herbs that he needed into the cauldron. 

“Sure you don’t.” Morgana replied, winking at her niece. No one could rile up the Pendragon men faster than Morgana. “Just like you don’t know what happened to all of my old dresses, right?”

"Just don't let your father find out." Merlin warned, getting back to the subject at hand, despite both of the brunette women still laughing at him. "You know how he gets.". She winced, nodding as she remembered the last event that they had all gone to together - a party to celebrate the partnership between the Avengers and the Knights of Camelot. There was a general rule in SI that no one should mess with any of the women associated with the Avengers - it didn’t even have anything to do with their partners, they all knew that the women could handle themselves. But the Captain had a tendency to jump in with both feet first whenever he assumed that someone was in need of protecting.

Except that that had been the first gathering that Arthur had gone to, and he hadn’t been impressed by the men talking to his daughter. That day, her father had proven that his protective instincts were worse than the Captain’s. Darcy laughed, shaking her head as she left the kitchen. But as soon as she was out of eyesight, her smile fell. She didn’t know what to do - this was completely new to her. She had fallen before, of course - it would have been strange if she had lived for centuries and hadn’t. But it wasn't like this. This was all-consuming. They had spent a little bit of time talking - he had asked her for advice about introducing Barnes to the twenty-first century, but that was it. She definitely wasn’t ready for her magic to be declaring them in love. But her magic practically cheered anytime he was nearby. It was constantly running around her - moving like a babbling brook in currents around her. But whenever she was in the same room as Sam Wilson, it relaxed. It would settle around him, curling up like a cat.

She was so lost in thought, that she didn’t even see anyone else coming until after she ran into them.

“Darcy?” Gwen asked, steadying the other woman. “Are you alright?”

Darcy paused. Her aunt wasn’t magical, wasn’t born as a noble like the rest of her family was. She was just… Gwen. Which meant that she probably knew more about the subject at hand than anyone else in their strange family. So she grabbed her aunt by the hand, dragging the other woman alongside her as she looked for some place private for the pair of them to talk. She finally found a side room that no one was using, and dragged her aunt in there. Once Darcy had gotten them both settled, she started talking.

Once she had explained everything, Gwen smiled. She pulled her niece into her side, cupping the side of her head with one hand as the girl took in a deep breath. “Everything will turn out fine, Darcy. I promise.” she said softly. “You’re already off to a better start than your parents were - they just fought with each other for years until they finally gave in.” Gwen pointed out, laughing despite herself as she remembered those ridiculous years. “Not that there’s anything wrong with how they did it, of course - it’s just that you are much more sure of your emotions than they have ever managed to be. But you knew what I meant, didn’t you?” she asked, sounding worried. Her hands fluttered around her body as she spoke, and Darcy caught them, trying to calm her down.

“Yes, Auntie.”

Gwen sighed in relief, glad that her message had gotten through in spite of her rambling. “Good. Just be yourself - that’s all anyone can ask of you.”

“And what if he still doesn’t like me?” she asked, voicing her real fear.

“Then he’s a fool, and doesn’t know what he’s missing.”

Darcy sighed as her aunt walked away. It was good advice, that much was true. The only real question now was how she was supposed to explain to Sam that the Old Religion had decided that the pair of them should end up together.

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Everyone felt it - those with magic and those without. Magicals felt it as a rush of pure magic over their bodies, overloading some whose magical cores were weaker. 

Darcy and Sam were in the kitchen when it hit - he was helping her make muffins for whenever her parents got back. The pair had slowly taken to spending more time together - while Sam didn’t quite believe in destiny and fate to the same extent that Darcy did, he couldn’t deny the pull that he felt towards the princess. But Adrastia growled low in her throat, growing slightly as her eyes glowed gold. Even Darcy lit up gold, gasping slightly as she felt the Old Religion moving around her. “What was that?” Sam asked, looking at Darcy warily. “What just happened?”

“Albion.” the word slipped out of her, and she raced out of the room, looking for her family.


	18. Chapter 18

The day after Albion reappeared, the entire Pendragon family was summoned to appear in front of the United Nations. They had been preparing for this ever since the return of the Once and Future King had been made public knowledge - the people in power were worried that Arthur would come and snatch that power out of their hands. They also knew that the UN expected them to be like the stereotypical medieval court, with the King holding absolute power and none of them able to navigate modern times. But Camelot - and once the kingdoms were united, Albion - had become almost a utopia after they repaired the damage that Uther's reign had brought, and had always been far more modern than any of it's contemporaries. Even after Arthur’s death, they had made it even more so, with both Guinevere and Morgana filling in for Merlin when he needed them to. Not to mention the fact that both Merlin and Darcy were more than familiar with modern times and able to lead Arthur when he faltered.

Which was why the United Nations was taken by surprise when the delegation from Camelot arrived in a sleek Mercedes instead of a horse-drawn carriage. They expected the kings, dressed in tunics and crowns. Instead, they got the diplomats of the family - the Ladies Morgana and Guinevere, in neat heels and slim-line suits. Gwen was as sweet as always, while Morgana was a shark with blood-red lips. Darcy followed her aunts, hissing last minute instructions at JARVIS as she went. She had had to abandon her scientists for the day, and left the AI in charge while she was gone.

The United Nations building in New York was designed to be intimidating, Darcy had always thought. But the security council was even more so. They stood in front of representatives of so many countries, all arranged in a semi-circle and staring them down, trying to intimidate them before listening to what they had to say. The Pendragons would win, of course - they had sent their best. Morgana, the born diplomat, whose job it was to go in and pave the way with her silver tongue. Guinevere, who came in after her, putting out fires and soothing hurt feelings that her wife had caused. And Darcy, who had been helping to run things behind the scenes for centuries now, and wasn’t about to stop anytime soon.

The council session started almost an hour after they arrived, much to their annoyance. The Pendragon ladies were made to wait - to try and make them nervous. Of course, that wasn’t going to work, not this time. “We asked for the entire family to appear.” one of the councilors said, starting off the meeting.

Morgana took the lead, leaning forward to speak directly into the microphone in front of her. “I'm afraid that isn't possible - the Kings are trying to get everything in Camelot as settled as possible.” she smiled sweetly at the councilmen, and the ladies almost laughed. They could see the way they were already starting to melt for her. Morgana Pendragon was a force of nature, but the scariest thing about her was her ability to turn people to her view of things without them ever realizing what she had done. It made her a formidable opponent to have. It made it even better when she was on their side.

“Very well, then.” another one chimed in - this one wrinkled and white-haired, and ready to just get things over with. “The session can begin.”

“And what, exactly, is this session about?” Morgana asked, still keeping her sugary-sweet tone. Aithusa shifted slightly on her shoulder, and Morgana’s green eyes flashed gold, reapplying the invisibility spell that she had applied to the opaloid dragon. Both Aithusa and Adrastia had come along for the meeting, refusing to let their witches go into the lions’ den alone. “We weren’t informed of anything about it, I'm afraid.”

“Yes, well, miss…” it was hard to keep track of anything the Security Council said - they kept changing who was speaking, so that everyone had a turn.

“Morgana.” the raven-haired witch said with her head held high, knowing the effect that her name would have. The crowd rippled with whispers. They might not have known who she was before that moment, but they all knew her name. “Lady Morgana Pendragon.”

“Right. Well you see... my lady…” one of the representatives started talking, but quickly trailed off. Another one of them picked up where he had left off, huffing slightly in irritation. Evidently, the UN Security Council wasn’t used to dealing with myths.

“A whole new island - one big enough to be its own country - rose out of the oceans off of the English coast overnight. Your people are claiming its Albion - which is a myth, I might add.”

That earned a raised eyebrow. “Are you accusing us of lying?” Morgana asked, her lilting voice soft. A hint of ice had started to make its way into her tone. “Because if you are, please just come out and say it instead of hiding behind thinly veiled niceties.”

Behind her, Gwen and Darcy were whispering frantically back and forth to each other. “This is why we don’t let Morgana handle negotiations.” Gwen hissed, trying to keep her mouth from moving as much as possible. The last thing that they needed was any attention on them before they were ready for it.

“Yeah, well, everyone else was busy.”

But their attention was pulled back to the debate in front of them by one of the representatives - this one from Greece. “We can figure out if this is indeed the legendary kingdom at a later date.” she said, “Our main concern is the idea that the so-called ‘King of Camelot’ has been raising a lot of eyebrows lately.” her phrasing had all three Pendragons ready to snap, but they managed to bite their tongues.

Russia’s representative picked up where Greece had left off. “What we’re asking is this - who exactly will you have lead this new nation?” they leaned forward in their seat, eager to hear what the answer would be.

“The kings, of course." Morgana stated - she couldn’t even think of a different answer to give, and she wouldn’t want to. “And Albion is nothing new - if anything, it is older than any of your current countries could ever dream of being.”

“No, they won’t.” those three words had the same effect as pouring a bucket of ice water over them would have. “They’ve been dead for centuries, neither of them have any legal standing anymore, let alone enough of one to rule a country. How exactly are either of them alive anymore - how are any of you alive anymore?”

“A mixture of magic and reincarnation.”

“Impossible.”

Gwen reached out, laying her hand on her wife’s arm, and the other woman took a breath. The blacksmith’s daughter was good at that - she tempered Morgana’s fires, kept her from burning too brightly and burning everyone in her path. And on the rare occasion that called for it, she would stoke her wife’s flames even higher and watch as she blazed. Unfortunately for them both, this was not one of those times. “So you can understand supersoldiers frozen in ice and alien gods, but not magic?” Gwen asked, taking a step forward. Now it was her turn to shine, to be the cool head to temper her wife’s fiery temper. “Does that not seem a little… narrow-minded?” her tone was gentle and patient, like she was talking a classroom of children through a lesson on sharing, instead of almost lecturing some of the most powerful people in the world.

“And who exactly are you supposed to be, miss?”

Gwen lifted her chin just the slightest bit as she stared down the assembled United Nations. Most people had to practice to get the sort of posture and grace that she had naturally - despite Morgana doing her best to hide it, she couldn’t help the heart eyes that she was practically projecting at her wife. “Guinevere.” she said, looking every inch the queen that they assumed her to be. “Guinevere Pendragon, of Camelot.”

There were a few gasps from the assembled crowd as Gwen identified herself as the legendary queen - while she was a Pendragon by marriage, she hadn’t said which one she was married to for a reason. While it was normally better to be underestimated, sometimes it worked better to be overestimated.

Morgana elbowed her niece, scowling slightly at the way the entire assembled UN was now fawning over her wife. Not that they shouldn’t have been doing that, because they should - Gwen was just the kind of woman that you had that reaction to. “How come they react like that to Gwen and not me?” she grumbled under her breath. “I’m supposed to be the scary one, you would think that they might show some respect.”

Darcy snorted. Her aunt was practically pouting next to her, and while it was a hilarious sight to see, it also wasn’t helpful at the moment. “They showed you respect by not throwing you out the second you insulted them.” she pointed out, but Morgana rolled her eyes.

“That’s not respect.”

“Auntie -” Darcy began.

But the raven-haired witch continued on like she hadn’t even heard her niece. “Turn them into frogs.” she muttered under her breath. She knew the spell for it, too - it was one of the first ones that she learned, back when she was first learning how to control her magic.

“Morgana!” Gwen hissed, not even turning away from the panel in front of her. 

“If we could get back to the matter at hand…” the US representative said. “be that as it may, Arthur Pendragon has no legal standing, currently. Therefore, he cannot rule over whatever the island may be.”

Gwen paused, collecting her thoughts before she said anything. “We cannot place a regent on the throne, if that is what you are suggesting.” she said, already knowing what they were trying to get to. The idea of having some sort of control over a country straight out of myths was something out of most of their wet dreams. “Camelot must be ruled by a Pendragon.”

“Well then we seem to be at an impasse, ladies.”

"I'm sorry." Guinevere said, her expression bashful. Morgana leaned forward slightly, the look on her face just a little hungry as she watched her wife work her magic. "Let me just make sure I've got this right, if you please."

The counselor nodded, allowing it. “Of course, my lady.”

“So Arthur - and please excuse my informalities, councilman - is not permitted to rule, as he has been legally dead for centuries, as according to your laws.” Gwen said slowly, as if trying to puzzle everything out. “And Merlin - and, please, forgive my informalities once again - may not rule as he is not of the Pendragon bloodline, as according to ours.” 

That made the council pause. “I'm sorry, did you say Merlin?”

“Yes, please do try and keep up.” Morgana sniped from behind her wife, and Gwen swiped at her half-heartedly.

“Hush, ‘Gana.”

Most of the room had gone quiet, going over what the woman who they had thought was queen had told them. But at least one of them was willing to press on. “Yes. So you see, we must take control of the country until someone suitable can be -”

"Then the solution is obvious." Gwen plowed on, ignoring the looks that the council was giving her. Her shyness was gone, replaced by the blacksmithed steel backbone that the Pendragons all knew she possessed. "By our law, it must be a Pendragon on the throne. And by yours, it cannot be Arthur as he is legally dead. Which means that there is only one remaining option.”

Darcy’s heart sank in her chest - whatever came next, she wasn’t going to like it.

Gwen smiled, teeth flashing and eyes hard as she gestured back at her niece. “Ladies and gentleman of the United Nations, I would like to present to you my niece, Her Royal Highness, Princess Darcy Pendragon of Camelot.” 

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The entire room was swallowed up in a stunned sort of silence as they processed everything. Darcy’s heart was pounding in her chest, with absolutely no idea as to how things were going to continue. They could either believe them, or try and have them all section - at which point, both dragons would unleash hell. Really, it was better for everyone involved if they just believed them. 

“By Camelot’s laws, she is not able to take over as Queen yet - there will be a Regent of our choosing until she is ready.” That was her aunt’s way of ensuring that her Father would be in charge of his kingdom for at least a little while longer - slipping in that bit of information after stunning everyone with the bomb that she had just dropped.

She got her answer, of course, in the most unsatisfactory of ways.

General Thaddeus Ross stood up - while he had been stripped of his status in the US Army, somehow he had managed to hold onto his standing in the UN. “Do you honestly expect us to allow you to continue like this unsupervised?" The general hissed.

But instead of Morgana or Guinevere answering, it was Darcy who stepped up. "Secretary Ross," she began, hands clasped in front of her and head held high, "with all due respect, We are willing to lay everything out in the open to this council. However, with the sheer amount of human rights violations against you, you, in particular, are never going to step foot anywhere near Our people."

“You little -”

“I suggest you watch how you continue this conversation, Secretary Ross.” Gwen warned, eyes flashing as she leapt to her niece’s defense. “Before you find yourself starting a diplomatic incident.” With that, the meeting was over. They had announced their intentions to the world - now was the time to set them into motion. It was time for Albion’s return.

As they left the UN behind them, Darcy turned around. Looking at the mass of flags flying high in front of the building, she smiled. Albion was officially in the modern era, and despite what the UN said, the Once and Future King was on his throne once again. She held up a hand, muttering a spell under her breath as her eyes flashed gold. A new flagpole grew out of the ground while above their heads, a new flag unfurled - this one in Camelot red, the gold dragon displayed proudly on it.


	19. Chapter 19

It didn't matter how many times she went, galas and the like never became less annoying. The only good thing about the modern ones was that the outfits didn't need seventeen layers to them, and she had Pepper and her aunts to help her. It was the first event that the entire Pendragon family was scheduled to appear at since they came to light and Albion had returned - Morgana and Gwen, Arthur and Merlin, and Darcy. Morgana had been planning since the moment the invitation had arrived - public opinion had always been her forte, and this first appearance would be crucial. If they were to start spreading word about Albion - a place for both followers of the Old Religion and non-believers, anyone who needed a safe space - this was where that would begin. Darcy had tried to beg out, saying that the Scientists Three would need her in the lab. But Pepper and Morgana had quickly vetoed that - the Avengers and their associates would all be at the event as well to support the recently returned Pendragons. There was no way of getting out of it short of a world-ending catastrophe. Now, Gwen had taken over the bedroom and Darcy’s appearance - Darcy and Morgana had chosen her dress, but Gwen had everything else under control.

"And don't you even think about causing one, Darcy Ygraine." Morgana warned. Her hands were full of Darcy's hair, braiding bits of it where her wife instructed as Gwen twisted the rest into an elaborate updo. Darcy was trying her best to keep from moving, but it had been decades since she had done anything more elaborate to her hair than a bun - all of the yanking on her roots was taking its toll.

“She wouldn't do that.” Pepper objected. The redhead was sitting at the end of the bed, supposedly doing her own hair. In reality, she had stopped working on that awhile ago so that she could freely stare at Gwen as she worked. The woman had spent years as Morgana’s maidservant - even after they got married, she still did Morgana’s hair.

Gwen laughed, shaking her head even as she continued her work. She was the most talented among them at this sort of thing - hair was an art that she had long since mastered. “She once summoned an entire horde of pixies just to avoid a welcoming banquet for a visiting lord and his family.” she revealed, mumbling through a mouthful of hairpins, a fond smile on her face as she remembered the incident. Darcy hadn’t wanted to meet the lord’s son, because she had overheard one of the kitchen maids talking about the possibility of a betrothal. “I wouldn’t put anything past her.”

“You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone about that!”

Morgana laughed, soft and low. “Can you really blame her - you were adorable.” she almost cooed as she settled on the bed. Aithusa curled up in her lap, just watching everything going on. Out of the three dragons, she was the least vocal, choosing to save her insights for Morgana only.

It was enough like old times that she almost believed it was - until there was a knock on the door and Tony poked his head in. "Are we ready in here?"

Pepper nodded, smiling at her partner. “Just about.” All of the rest of them were ready - they were just waiting on Darcy.

“What do you think?” the brunette asked, standing up. Her eyes flashed gold as she magicked herself into her gown - it was easier to do it that way, instead of having to worry about the possibility of messing up her hair or makeup. Her dress was long, sweeping the floor with her skirts flowing out around her. Somehow they had managed to combine the two worlds - the elegance and royalty of Camelot with the modern fashion of New York.

"Your fairy godmother does good work, kiddo." Tony teased. But there was a hint of sincerity in his tone, telling her what he really thought.

"My Aunt Gwen does it better.” she replied, and Gwen beamed.

They all got up to head out - the dragons grew in size, ready to begin their guard duty for the night - but Morgana held her back. It wasn’t enough for anyone else to notice that it had been done on purpose, just enough for them to be at the back of the group. The dragons walked alongside them, keeping pace. Morgana slipped her hand into Darcy’s, passing her something.

The ancient witch looked deep into her niece’s eyes, willing her to understand exactly what she was saying. “Keep it close.” she said quietly, none of the usual laughter in her voice. “You’re going to need it.”

There were times that Darcy forgot something important - while her Aunt was almost as powerful as her father was - their powers were very different. Morgana was a seer, first and foremost, and a sorceress second. It was a power that came in handy more often than not in Camelot - an extra few days to prepare could mean all the difference in ancient battles. It kept their family and their kingdom safe far more often than any of them would have ever actually admitted - and now that had come into the future with them.

She didn’t even look at whatever it was that her aunt had handed her - just tucked it in her bra, and kept walking. Tonight was the night that things would come to a head. She could feel it in her bones.

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She had been to a few of Tony’s parties before - they were the sort of fun that had only become a reality after she and Jane had joined up with the Science Bros. While she was normally there in the capacity of a Scientist Wrangler, she still always had fun. There was always more than enough alcohol to go around, and more than enough pretty men to keep her entertained. They almost reminded her of banquets in Camelot - louder music, and far less dancing, but the same sort of energy. The same feeling of celebrating the simple fact that they were all alive, and they were together. But this one was different - this was the first time that all attention was on her.

They were mobbed from the second that they walked in - now that their official photos had been released, people actually knew who to look for. Which was a shame - Arthur and Merlin had both liked to pick random people out of the crowd and claim that they were actually the Kings of Camelot.

Adrastia did a decent job at keeping people at a respectable distance - she didn’t talk to them, preferring to keep that a secret, but was vocal enough with her growls when she thought someone was getting too close that people usually got the hint. But even with that, people still didn’t seem to want to get the hint. Just as it was all beginning to become too much, a familiar presence stepped up to her side. “All right everybody,” Sam called out, resting a hand on her lower back. The heat from that radiated outwards, and she had to fight the shivers that wanted to crawl up her spine. “Give the lady some breathing room.”

“Easy there, princess.” he said quietly, once everyone had stepped back. “I got your six.”

The pair of them had slowly grown closer - Sam had been wary after she had told him about her magic’s reaction. Not that she blamed him. It was one thing to learn that magic and destiny were real - and living one floor down - but it was a completely different thing to learn that said magic wanted him to fall in love with an immortal princess. That one had taken a few weeks for him to wrap his head around. After that, they had come to an uneasy understanding. While Darcy was completely ready to jump in on whatever her destiny told her - her parents had been two sides of the same coin, after all - Sam had been much less willing. Still, he liked Darcy. He just wanted to make sure that his feelings were his own.

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They had made it about halfway through the night so far, with her family charming and scandalizing people in equal measure. They had figured out a system centuries ago, back when it had taken multiple days for a party of dignitaries to arrive on horseback from a neighboring kingdom. Merlin and Gwen would each take their respective Pendragon around the room, ready to smooth things over when the Pendragon temper inevitably flared. It was a foolproof system, one made even easier now that they had Darcy with them.

Darcy had found a quiet corner with Jane, stealing a bottle of wine from the bar and a couple of glasses. They were having a great time - Jane telling a story about Thor in Starbucks, and Darcy with a story about her Aunt Morgana and the tabloids - that they didn't even notice when everything went quiet until something hit Darcy's wards, even as a glove hit the ground at her feet. Adrastia growled, her tail flicking in irritation as she moved just a little bit closer to her charge. She shrunk as she moved, until she was small enough to fly and curl up on Darcy’s shoulder. She hid beneath Darcy’s hair, her weight a reassuring presence as she waited to strike at anyone who might try and attack.

Darcy looked up, and she froze.

She had never met Uther Pendragon, and judging by the stories that she had heard, she wouldn't have wanted to. Uther had ruled Camelot with an iron fist, taking his sword to all those who crossed him. Magic - the same magic that ran through her veins - had been outlawed, along with all of its creatures. Most of its creatures had been either burned or just killed, with any people who practiced quickly meeting the same fate if they were discovered.

But now he was standing in front of her - the only way that she had even recognized him was that his portrait had hung in the castle for years. He looked younger than he had in the portrait, though - just like everyone else who had been reincarnated. Her heart jumped into her throat, and she could hear her fathers pushing through the crowd, heading in her direction. But she knew who it was who was challenging her, along with how much it would hurt her family to have to face him again. They had already fought this battle, a long time ago. Now it was her turn. So she threw up shields around them, her eyes glittering with the gold of her magic. It was just the three of them inside - the tyrant, the princess, and the dragon.

Uther stared her down, disgust in his eyes as he took in the gold in hers. "I, Uther Pendragon, challenge you." He said, his voice booming across the room. Her fathers had reached the edge of her shield, and were trying to break it down with no success. “For the future of Camelot, and of Albion.”

Sam moved closer, and she started. She hadn’t even noticed him - had no idea how he had managed to make it past her shields in the first place. The last time she had looked, he had been on the other side of the room, snarking with Clint. Now he was next to her, looking like the soldier that he had been before becoming an Avenger. “What’s the plan, princess?” he asked, keeping his voice low. 

“I… I don’t know.” Darcy's heart was sinking - Albion was just starting again, and if she backed away from this challenge it would be seen as cowardice, dooming her people before anyone could make a proper opinion of them. Not to mention the archaic form of battle would not look good on the world stage.

She had to come up with a solution, and quickly.


	20. Chapter 20

Sam was looking between the pair of them, racking his brains for the name ‘Uther Pendragon’. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t think of a single person from the myths with that name - they had all focused on the knights themselves, along with the king and the sorcerer. This man - older and white, with a scar on his forehead and a surprising amount of anger - was none of them. So he moved just a bit closer to Darcy, keeping his voice low enough that only she could hear him. “Who even is this dude?”

Darcy just smiled at the man in front of them, not even seeming to pay Sam any attention. But he could feel something wash over him - some sort of spell, he would ask her what it was later. For now he would just have to trust that she was protecting him. “Hello, Grandfather.”

Uther scowled. “You have no right to call me that.” he growled. It was bad enough that his son had married a sorcerer, and that his daughter was one as well. He refused to claim this child as part of his bloodline. “You are no family of mine.”

Darcy flinched - it was tiny, but still visible enough to need an intervention. Sam stepped in between the pair - grandfather and granddaughter. But Darcy pushed him out of her way, moving closer to the man that had nearly destroyed the kingdom that she loved. She barely made it two steps before a flash of blue darted in front of her. Adrastia pressed against her legs, doing her best to herd her in the opposite direction.

“Relax, you ridiculous lizard.” Darcy soothed, running a hand over the dragon’s scales. “I’ll be fine.”

Adrastia’s tail flicked - once, twice, three times - in annoyance, but she eventually gave in. “I’ll be close.” she growled, shooting one last glare at the would-be king. 

Dacry took a step forward, moving slowly. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her, and it would be awkward if she tripped now. “Uther Pendragon -”

The man’s face turned red, and he snarled. “I am a king, and you will address me as such.” he demanded, taking a few steps closer. Darcy held her ground.

“You were a king, once.” she corrected. She kept her voice low and even, but let it project around the room, grabbing everyone’s attention. Her mind was racing, remembering everything that she had ever been taught about her grandfather, trying to figure out how to win this. This was a battle of diplomacy as much as it was a fight to keep her crown even before she got it - if she came out the loser on either side, it could spell disaster. “But a long time has passed since then. But I will accept your challenge - as is our culture - on one condition.”

“Name it.”

“I will not fight you myself, but my champion will.” she said carefully. “You may also name a champion if you wish to do so.”

“Very well.” Uther said, a smug look crossing his face. “I accept. However, I will fight for myself.”

Darcy smiled, showing a bit more teeth than was strictly necessary. She had known that he was going to do that. When given the chance to fight himself or have someone else fight in his place, he would take the direct route every time. Uther had always been confrontational from what she had learned about him - it was in his very nature. Even if it wasn’t the best decision for him at the time, he would try and face things head on and alone. 

But she didn’t say any of that - instead, she just nodded her head deferentially, keeping her voice low. “Of course.” 

The pair separated - Uther moving to find a weapon, and Darcy to find someone to fight. She would have fought herself, but she remembered what her aunt had given her before the party had even begun and decided against it. If she was right, she would need a champion based purely on what her aunt had Seen. 

But before she could even begin to look for someone, someone volunteered. “Princess. I offer myself up as your champion.”

“Sam Wilson.” Darcy smiled. “We would be honored if you would be my champion.” Sam had been trained as a soldier - as a paratrooper - before joining the Avengers Initiative. There, he had learned even more fighting styles and types of weapons than he would ever actually need to know. But even then, he had never learned how to use a sword.

Now was as good a time as any to learn.

Her eyes flashed golden as she muttered her spell:

“_Ongebrigan anweald sweord._” she chanted, holding her hands out in front of her. The sword materialized in her hands, and she moved to give it to him. 

Still, he turned to study Darcy before taking the weapon that she offered him. “You sure about this, princess?” he asked. “You got a lot of people out there who are more than willing to fight for you.”

Darcy smiled. “We need new blood - yours will do just fine.” Sam was right - there were many people, her whole family, who would have fought Uther for her. But that would have been counterproductive in the long run. They needed someone new, someone modern - someone that she loved and trusted despite everything working against them.

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Okay - you do know how creepy it sounds when you say things like that, right?” Despite everything that was going on around them, she had to fight back the urge to laugh. 

“Here.” Darcy said, reaching up. She pulled a flower out of her hair, quickly pinning it to Sam’s lapel. “A favor for my champion.” Sam smiled.

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It only took a minute for Uther to get impatient. He had been pacing back and forth like a trapped animal, watching everything go on around him. “Shall we begin, or would you like a minute to make sure he knows which end of the blade to hold?” the man sneered.

“I think I’ll be just fine.” Sam said. He should have been a nervous wreck, and yet was strangely calm. He gripped his sword in both hands, steadying it as he waited for Uther to make the first move.

Block, parry, attack. Strike. His body was moving on autopilot - while Uther had far more skill with his sword than Sam could ever hope to have, he was also a lot older than the superhero was. His reaction times were slower, and his strength - while still formidable - was nowhere near the Falcon’s level. All in all, they were fairly evenly matched.

They fought back and forth, each clash of the swords tiring them out more as the vibrations moved up their arms, making them shake. It was exhausting - Sam didn’t know how this used to be something that people did on the regular. Still, he bided his time. He waited. And when Uther’s swing went too far, overextending his reach, Sam was ready. And with a single twist of his blade, Uther was disarmed.

As soon as both of them realized what had happened, Uther was screaming. “The competition was rigged!” Uther roared, eyes narrowed as he glared at the Falcon. “I demand a retrial!”

She could see her family and friends out of the corner of her eye - all of them were gearing up to defend her and Sam. But she held up a hand, stopping them from saying anything. “We are not you, Uther Pendragon.” she intoned, her voice cold. “My fathers did not rule their kingdom through deception and fear. They did not build Albion on a bed of lies and treachery. People did not live in fear of the pyre when Arthur was king, because he believed in justice. He did not whip his people into a frenzy over the fear of magic, or force them to fight for causes that they did not believe in.” Her voice was growing stronger with every word she said, the fire in her tone slowly growing. “When my fathers were on the throne, innocents did not die for petty or false crimes. They stood for justice - and so do I.”

Uther’s face turned red, and she couldn’t help her smile. She had unnerved him. Good. “How dare -” he began, but she quickly cut him off. She had gotten him off balance, now it was up to her to keep him that way.

“I dare, Uther.” she said, taking a step forward. Her voice got stronger as her anger grew - her anger at the man in front of her and everything that he represented. “My fathers did not bend to your will, and neither will I. The Golden Age of Camelot began the moment you died, and it will continue someday when I am queen.” she paused, letting her words sink in. “But at this moment, 

The tyrant king growled - a low, menacing sound that seemed to make them all freeze. He rushed at Darcy, sword clenched tightly in one hand and ready to attack. He managed to get in one good hit before Adrastia was on top of him - the shock of the blow enough for the shields that she had put up to fall down.

While her parents were closer, it was another figure that practically barrelled Darcy over in his rush to get to her. Gwaine grabbed her, checking her over for any bruises or marks at all. Uther had managed to get in a few good blows, but she was fine - she had gotten worse from Natasha when the other woman had decided that Darcy needed to learn to defend herself. “Darcy - are you alright, poppet?”

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes - her family was always so dramatic. “I’m fine, Uncle Gwaine.” she reassured, letting him check her over.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t find any marks on her, before pulling her into a hug. “Good.” he muttered. “That’s good. Don’t do that again anytime soon, alright?”

She huffed, trying not to laugh. “I promise I won't fight anymore homicidal tyrants anytime soon, Uncle Gwaine.”

“Excellent. Now then, your highness - I believe we were trying to drink each other under the table.” With that said and done, Gwaine turned around, already heading back to the open bar in the corner of the room. Thor followed after him, albeit a little more slowly. The Avengers all watched him leave, fearful and just a little in awe.

“He… he does know that Thor is a literal god, right?”

“Trust me, my friend,” Percival laughed, clapping them on the shoulder hard enough that their knees buckled under them, “this is a fight that Gwaine will win.”

“Before we watch what is sure to be a fearful competition,” Arthur began, stepping forward. The king practically radiated power as he approached his daughter, Merlin by his side. He scanned her over - they would both panic later, in private. For now they would pretend like everything was alright. “There is something that we must take care of first.” With that said, he nodded towards his daughter. 

Darcy reached down into her bra, pulling out what her aunt had given her earlier in the day. She held the vial in her hand, rolling it in her palm for a moment before opening it. People surrounded them all, watching as she poured out its contents. A puddle formed on the floor, spilling out around them. Darcy smiled, watching the understanding light up in Thor’s eyes - out of all of the Avengers, he was the one who was most likely to know what was going on.

Out of the puddle, a sword rose - gleaming gold and steel, familiar phrases etched into the metal that she had learned at her father’s knee. Take me up, the sword begged. Cast me away, it ordered. Excalibur. A head of brown hair rose out of the water, dark eyes looking impishly at the gathered knights as the Lady of the Lake handed over the legendary sword.

Technically speaking, they didn’t need Freya to hand over the weapon - it lived in the umbrella stand next to the front door of Arthur and Merlin’s apartment these days. But this was all about the presentation - this moment was one that people would remember. So Arthur took the sword from Freya, then turned to look at Sam Wilson. 

“Sam Wilson, you have done my family - my country - a great service.” Arthur intoned. Gone was the man that Sam knew, the man who was desperately in love with his husband, who cursed out the other knights when he was losing at Mario Kart. This was the king - a man who had fought battles and won wars. "Please kneel."

And now Sam wasn't sure what was happening - but he did as he was told. He knelt on the floor, feeling slightly ridiculous as he did so. He was kneeling on the ground in his tux, hile someone else stood over him - also in a tuxedo - with a sword in hand. Still, nothing happened for a long moment. And then Arthur spoke.

“Do you swear to fight with honor, for justice, and for those who cannot defend themselves?” his voice was measured and even, like he was reciting words that he had said a hundred times before. Yet his voice was filled with conviction - no matter how many times that he had said the words, they still meant the same thing to him that they had the first time he had said them.

Still, there was only one response that he could give, even if he wasn’t completely sure as to what was going on. “I do.”

“Do you swear to always uphold the laws of Camelot, no matter the price?”

“I do.”

“Do you swear to uphold the balance between worlds, to never favor one over the other - mortal or magical?” Merlin asked, joining into the conversation. His eyes were shining gold as he stared at the other man, and for a moment, both of the Pendragons looked different to Sam. Arthur was dressed in chainmail, a red tunic with the Camelot crest on it layered overtop. He had a beard, and somehow looked older than he was. Merlin stood beside him, his hair slightly longer and curling around his ears. A roughly made wooden staff was held loosely in one hand. While he didn’t wear chainmail like his husband did, the finely made clothes that he wore - all in deep, rich shades of blue and brown - made it clear that he was royalty.

“I do.”

The vision ended just as quickly as it appeared.

“Do you swear to listen to the world around you, and learn its ways?”

“I do.”

Merlin and Arthur shared a knowing glance, both of them smiling. “Arise, Sir Samuel,” Arthur intoned, lightly resting the flat of Excalibur against both of his shoulders. “Knight of Camelot.”

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After that, the party continued on as normal - although people did give the little blue dragon a wide berth. Still, everything was going as planned. Morgana scanned the room, her hand tucked in her wife’s as she took a sip of her wine. 

“Hey Hammer!” Tony called out in greeting, wrapping a friendly arm around the man’s shoulders. “Come here - there’s someone I want to introduce you to.”

Justin Hammer looked confused, and just a bit wary - this was the nicest that Tony had ever been to him. It was enough to make him nervous. Still, he followed the man across the room, smiling when he was led to a pale, dark-haired woman. Her dress was long and elegant - the opposite of what was normally worn at a Tony Stark Party. “Oh, hey! I know you, don’t I?” Hammer asked, leering at her.

“I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.” Morgana said, eying the man in front of her in disdain. She had caught him talking about Gwen earlier, and hadn’t been impressed with him then - she was even less impressed with him now. “What is it that you do, exactly?”

Hammer fidgeted, taking a sip of his drink to try and calm his nerves. There was something about the way that the woman was staring at him that made him nervous - like he was a bug that she was about to step on. “I work in the same industry as Tony here, actually. We do a lot of the same work - compete for the same contacts, you know? I actually own my company - Hammer Industries. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”

Morgana took a slow sip of her wine. “No… no, I don’t think I have.”

Something in his expression changed, and he became a little less charming - a bit more slimy. “Would you like to?” he asked, staring at her intensely.

“You’re quite an odious little man, aren’t you?” Morgana asked, looking subtly amused. Green eyes sparkled with mischief as she smiled at him. From her perch on Morgana’s shoulder, hidden in her hair, Aithusa grinned.

Then her eyes glowed gold, and Justin Hammer was gone.

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“Morgana Pendragon!” Guinevere shouted, hands on her hips as she moved towards her wife. The crowds parted for her as she walked, but her wife seemed unconcerned - until she saw the creature cupped in her wife’s hands. “Did you turn someone into a toad?”

Morgana shrugged, taking another sip of wine to hide the smirk on her face. “If he didn’t want to be a toad, he shouldn’t have acted like one.”

8888

It had taken a while for Albion to be reestablished. There was so much that needed to be done - the island itself was new. Albion had been in between England and Wales originally. Now it was its own island, miles away from any sort of civilization. There were only a few ways to get there - by boat, by plane, or by magic. Magic was how the royal family traveled - and how they arrived to stay. As much as Darcy’s scientists needed her, her country needed her more. So she left the Avengers behind - left Jane behind. Left Sam behind - the airman had refused to leave.

The man might have been a Knight of Camelot now, but he was an Avenger first. 

Camelot was different than she remembered it. That wasn’t a bad thing, of course - even with as advanced as Camelot had been for its time period, it had still been the fourteenth century.

Still, it was almost strange, to see Camelot laid out before her now. Even now, after being back for a few months time. The place in her memories was always ancient - not even just the time period, but the kingdom itself. Camelot had existed long before it was even called that, and its history was written in its bones. But this…

It was incredible. A mixture of time periods walked around her. Knights - and it shouldn’t have been as surprising as it was that so many people had wanted to join - walked their rounds, their armor gleaming in the morning sun. Cars passed by them, their exhaust mingling with the shadows cast by the tall stone buildings that lined the streets. There was a computer repair shop three doors down from an apothecary, and an ad for the new school of magic was in the paper, right next to a story about the Avengers.

But no matter how much time had passed, Darcy still had to wear a cloak around her kingdom to avoid being mobbed. It was almost worse now than it had been before - there hadn’t been paparazzi or tourists in the past. Luckily for her, some of the ancient fashions had come back into style, at least in Albion - she wasn’t the only person on the street wearing a full-body cloak. Even with that as protection, Adrastia was still curled up around her shoulders, ready for anything that might happen - whether it was an attack or just another tourist. Darcy held her basket close - out of everyone that had come back Gaius was the last one to make an appearance, but it was an appearance that they were glad to have. He had sent her out to gather herbs for him, but now she needed to hurry back. Her skirts swished around her legs as she moved, billowing around her with every step.

The clock had already struck nine, and everything began at eleven on the dot. She might not have been queen yet, but that didn’t mean anything in terms of responsibilities. Darcy still had to learn how to run everything, and this was an important day in that training.

The new council started today.

8888

She was ready.

Adrastia’s talons clicked against the stone floors from her place next to her as the pair made their way through the castle. Darcy had notes on everything that she wanted to accomplish in the first year of Albion. Detailed plans and schematics, quests and fact-finding missions about magic. Plans to build infrastructure, to start up new schools and universities. But first she had to get her councilors in order. 

She froze the second she entered the council room. Even though her father was technically supposed to be in charge of everything - acting as the technical regent until she was crowned - Darcy had volunteered to take this on. The council was going to be hers one day - the people that she would be relying on for advice in every situation. And right now, they were all standing, shouting at each other. The long stone table in the middle of the room was empty, chairs on either side of it waiting like fighters on both sides of enemy lines.

A long time ago, Darcy had asked her father why his council sat at a round table. They had two of them - a large one for council meetings, and a smaller one for the Knights of the Round Table. The second table consisted of the kings’ closest advisors, the ones who truly advised him on matters before they were brought before the council. But round tables were harder to make - it wasn’t easy to find trees big enough to make them. But his explanation had stuck with her for centuries.

_At a regular table, there is an easily designated hierarchy - those closest to the head are most important, and it is easiest for them to speak up and be heard. Those further away have a much harder time of making their voices known. But at a round table, everyone is an equal distance apart. There is no established hierarchy, because everyone is able to be heard equally. It’s simply a matter of fairness. And that, I believe, is well worth the extra cost of the table itself._

So she watched them all fighting for a minute longer, taking note of who was being extremely vocal. Adrastia was next to her, golden eyes tracking everything going on around them. Her eyes flashed gold as she took in the table in front of her - whoever had made it had not paid any attention to the old stories, the tales of Camelot. It was heavy stone, finely carved but still wrong - long and rectangular, with a long distance between the head and the foot.

And then she did something that she had learned specifically for New York and for dealing with the Avengers. She brought her fingers up to her lips and blew, the piercing whistle echoing around the room. 

And everyone froze.

Her eyes scanned the room, taking in everything in front of her. The council room was full of people, all of them ready for her to listen to what they had to say. To convince her that their opinions were best and should be listened to no matter what. And every single one of them was at someone’s throat, trying to establish a hierarchy before she even stepped foot in the room. 

That wouldn’t do.

Her eyes flashed gold, focusing in on the table. There were some spells that were simple enough for her that they didn’t need to be spoken aloud, and this was one of them. But even with her focusing on the table, she still caught a few people flinching out of the corner of her eye. Darcy didn’t worry too much about that - Adrastia would take note of who they were, and they would try and figure things out later.

The table changed in front of her, going from stone and rectangular to a large wooden circular table. When she looked back up, everyone was staring. Darcy smiled, taking a seat with Adrastia curling up next to her. The dragon’s eyes scanned the room, watching everything around them. “Everyone, sit, please.” Darcy commanded, her voice echoing around the room.

Now, staring at her own table, she couldn’t help the goosebumps that were crawling over her skin. This… this felt right to her, in a way that not many things did.

“Right,” she said, a satisfied smile on her face as she sat down. Everyone else filled in the seats - nobles and commoners, knights and ladies, old citizens and new ones. “Let’s begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is late! It's been a crazy week - my birthday is on Wednesday and I've been going into overdrive trying to make sure that everything is ready.


	21. Chapter 21

Things had been quiet since Darcy left, going back home to Camelot. Not in New York, of course - it was still the city that never slept. Villains attacked every few days, with major attacks happening once a week. The Avengers were called out to defeat them, and then the next two days would be spent doing damage control on the city and with the media. 

But the Tower itself was quieter. No more nights of midnight margaritas and cheesy movies, no more knights shouting at each other over things that happened centuries ago. No more of Darcy scolding all of them for one thing or another, and Gwen doing the same alongside her. Everything was too quiet, and they all felt it. Which was why none of them even reacted when Tony came barreling into the common area one night, looking even more pleased with himself than usual. That was enough to make them all sit up just a little bit more - anything that made Tony look that pleased was something that they needed to be wary of.

“Pack your bags and cancel your plans, folks - we’re going on an adventure!” Tony cheered, sounding a little too much like a carnival barker for anyone’s peace of mind. Pepper was coming in behind him, looking only slightly exasperated. The amusement in her eyes gave her away, though.

“What are you talking about, Tony?” Clint asked, not even looking up from what he was doing. He was showing Steve the finer points of Smash Bros - and somehow Steve was winning.

“The Eye of Hawk is correct, Friend Stark - your words are most confusing.” Thor said, studying his friend. “Please explain things.”

“Then maybe these words will be easier, big guy.” Tony grinned. Jane had come bursting into his lab earlier that day, the texts from Darcy still pulled up on her phone. The pair of them had already had everything planned out - the only thing that he needed to do was fill in the team. “The princess invited us to come and visit her and her terrifying family for a few days. See what a modern-day kingdom is like.”

Sam turned to look at him, moving so quickly that he nearly got whiplash. He did, however, lose that round of Smash Bros. “Seriously?” he asked, his face lighting up. Avenging and his work with veterans had kept him so busy that he hadn’t had a chance to go to Albion yet to see Darcy.

Natasha smiled, looking up from what she was doing for just a moment. “This is excellent news.”

But it was Steve who burst everyone’s bubble. “We can’t, Tony.”

“What are you talking about, Capsicle?” Came the engineer’s reply, shrugging him off. “It’ll be fun. A few days as royal guests is just what we need.”

“And what about the city?” Steve asked, putting down his controller. He turned to look at Tony, expression solemn. “They need the Avengers to protect them. We can’t leave them defenseless, Tony.”

Tony rolled his eyes - there were a lot of things that the Captain was, but able to relax wasn’t one of them. “Relax, Cap’n Crunch. We won’t be. Shortstack said that there are ways for her to get us back here in minutes with magic when she invited us.”

Sam looked between the two men, not wanting to get his hopes up - but unable to squash the hope in his chest. “So we’re going, right?” It had been months since he had seen Darcy - his apparent soulmate. And if this was how he felt after just a few months without her, he couldn’t imagine how Merlin had felt during the countless centuries that he had spent without Arthur.

“We’re going.”

8888

Albion was a mishmash of times and places, from what they could see as they flew overhead. The country was diverse - farming areas springing up next to rivers, while larger cities slowly grew up further inland. For a country that had only begun a few months ago, it was doing well. Of course, the capital city was Albion’s pride and joy - Camelot.

Camelot was divided into three main sections. First was the lower town - the outskirts. Most of the houses were there, with people commuting into their jobs in the upper town. It was interesting to see the blend of architecture that was in place - tiny cottages next to modern mcmansions. Then there was the upper town, full of shops and marketplaces. Sam watched all the people down below from in the quinjet, going about their lives. If he was able to, he would have jumped out of the quinjet earlier and flown ahead. But they had been warned ahead of time against doing that - some of the newer students at the magic school that Morgana had set up were on a Harry Potter kick, and had tried to recreate the Weasley’s Wildfire Whizz-Bangs. The resulting fireworks were still loose around the upper town.

And in the middle of the upper town, was Tintagel Castle. 

Somehow, it was an almost perfect recreation of the original, which had finally succumbed to time a hundred years before. Grey stone was built up into walls and turrets, and people made their way around, attending to daily life. The only real difference between the original castle and the new one was the landing pad on one turret - specifically placed for certain visitors, or dragons with their sorcerers.

The quinjet landed, and the hangar door lowered, revealing a dark-haired figure, guards on either side of her. Darcy Pendragon watched with a small smile on her face as her friends - her second family - stepped foot into her kingdom for the very first time. Adrastia was at her side as always, her scales almost blending in with the blue of the princess’s skirts. Gwaine was the only one of the knights that they recognized - everyone else was completely new.

“Lewis!” Tony was the first one out of the ship, slinging an arm around her shoulder in his weird version of a hug. “Hey, shortstack, how’s it hanging?”

"My friends," Darcy said, slipping into the formal speech required of her station. It had been awhile since she had last had to use it, but she had gotten enough practice in the last few months that it came naturally once again. Adrastia scanned everything as they walked, the princess and the dragon leading them into the castle proper. "We welcome you to Our humble home and hope you enjoy your time here with Us in Camelot.” Gwaine followed behind them, another knight in step beside him.

Darcy gestured to them all to follow her, leading them out of sight of any prying eyes.

As soon as the doors closed behind them, leaving them in private, Darcy turned, throwing herself at her nearest friend. Thor laughed, holding the young princess in his arms. The Asgardian spun her around, both of them laughing.

“Queen Darcy!” he greeted, setting the tiny brunette back on her feet. 

“I’m not queen yet, big guy.” Darcy replied. She took a step back, looking over all of them, making sure that they hadn’t killed each other since she had last seen them. “Don’t worry - you’ll be here when it happens.”

“Aye.” Thor agreed, swearing his friend a promise. “When that momentous day approaches, the Nine Realms shall rejoice!”

The Avengers watched everything around them, taking it all in. It was obvious that her subjects loved her - at least, those who had come back with Camelot. Some of them obviously knew Darcy well, while others were still far too in awe of the legendary family.

“Dad and Father are in the council chambers right now, dealing with a few older councilors.” Darcy explained as she led them through the winding halls. “I don’t know where my aunts are - they’re somewhere around here, though, they aren’t scheduled to leave Albion til the end of the month - and my uncles are all on the training fields with the newest knights.”

“We were starting to think you didn't like us anymore.” Tony joked. Jane punched him in the arm a second later when Darcy flinched - his teasing had hit a little bit too close to Darcy’s own fears. She wasn’t sure how her friends would react to what she needed to tell them.

“I can't come home with you.” Darcy said, walking just a little bit faster. She didn’t want to see her friends’ reaction to what she was telling them. “It's not that I don't want to. But my people come first, and they need me here.”

“Well, you can still come visit, can’t you?” Jane asked, looking hopeful. This was the longest that the pair had been apart since they met, and it was starting to take its toll.

“We can ask that guy…” Clint trailed off, before snapping when he finally remembered his name. “the sorcerer supreme.”

“The what?” she asked, sounding offended. Sam almost laughed at the look on her face.

“This new hero that showed up on the scene.” he offered. “You’d hate him.”

“Good to know.” she snorted, before finally saying an actual hello. “Sam.”

“Hey there, princess.” he said, moving just a little bit closer. His grin grew just a little when he saw the blush painted on his girl’s cheeks. “Miss me?” He moved just a little bit closer.

“Alright you two, break it up.” Gwaine cut in good-naturedly. “Before your father shows up, Darcy-Lou.”

One of the newer knights spoke up then, his voice haughty. “That is your queen and you will show her respect.” everything froze. Darcy’s hair flew out around her, nearly giving herself whiplash in her hurry to see her uncle’s reply. The grin on her face grew by the second as she watched things unfold.

Gwaine chuckled, but the tension in his shoulders betrayed just how irritated he was. “She’s not queen yet.” he said, his voice soft. He turned to look at the other knight, casting an appraising look at the young man. “And what is your name, sir knight?” he asked. It wasn’t any of the original knights - only a few of them had been reincarnated, and he knew them from their presence alone. They had fought side-by-side for too long to ever be missed.

“Sir William.”

“Right, Sir William.” Gwaine began. He crossed to stand in front of the other man, one hand resting lightly on the pommel of his sword. “Good to meet you. And just so you know, I kept the princess out of too much trouble when she was a babe - even changed her nappies on a few occasions. I believe that gives me the right to call her what I wish.”

The knight blushed, stuttering out a few words of apology when he realized what had happened. But Darcy was already distracted - she had grabbed ahold of Sam’s hand, practically dragging him behind her as she started to lead the Avengers and their assembled people through Tintagel Castle. 

“Come on - let me show you around. Brucie, you have got to meet my grandfather - you’d love him.” they kept moving, going deeper and deeper into the bowels of the castle. That statement was enough to worry the others - they knew enough about medieval times to know that the dungeons were kept in the bowels of the castle. They were almost afraid that they would find Uther sitting in a cell.

“Haven’t we already met him, princess?” Sam asked, sounding nervous. But Darcy looked at him, smiling reassuredly.

“You had the misfortune of meeting Uther, the former king. But my grandfather is Gaius - the court physician.” she said, still dragging him along by the hand as the rest of the team followed along behind them. “Bruce, you’ll love him!”

Gwaine called after them, already laughing at the thought of the Avengers meeting the infamous Court Physician. “I’ll let Gaius know you’re coming, Darcy-Lou. And no detours along the way!”

“Is he drunk?” Tony asked, studying the way that the knight walked away. He was all too familiar with the swaying gait of the other man - there had been a period of several years where that was the only way that Tony could walk. 

Darcy didn’t even look surprised - just fond. “Yeah.” she said, watching her uncle make his way across the room. “He does all his best work like that.”

8888

Meeting Gaius was interesting, to say the least. The court physician was equal parts sarcastic and nurturing - it was clear to see where both Merlin and Darcy had gotten their mannerisms from. The man had looked them all over, prescribed a tincture of lemon, salt, and crushed basil for a rash on Clint’s arm, then sent them packing with a few well-placed insults. After that, the princess quickly rescued them from the physician’s tower, taking them out into the upper and lower towns.

It was funny - this might have been the only place on the planet where people ignored the Avengers. It hurt Tony’s ego a little, but the rest of them were relieved - it gave them the chance to just be regular people for once. Instead, they acted as protection for the princess - Bucky and NAtasha were very effective at keeping people away from her. Some of the younger knights had wanted to come with them, but had been convinced to stay behind and train.

Darcy was covered up by her cloak, Adrastia curled up inside her hood. Sam walked alongside her, their hands clasped together as they walked through Camelot.

“I can see why you like it here.” Sam said, studying everything around them. The streets were full of people, everyone hurrying to get any errands done before the shops closed for the day. A group of children ran by, eyes flashing gold as they conjured snowballs to throw at each other in the middle of summer. “It’s peaceful.”

Darcy laughed - Sam was seeing the good side of things. Every country had its idyllic places, but also its bad ones. Still, that was why she came out here when she could - to remind herself of why she sat in council rooms day in and day out, fighting to make changes to archaic laws. “On a good day.” she agreed. “But… this is what Albion was always supposed to be. It took awhile -”

“That’s an understatement.” Sam muttered.

Darcy looked around them, allowing the pride to swell in her chest. It was all coming together around her - Camelot was coming back from the ashes. “It took awhile,” she admitted, not wanting to downplay just how much of a struggle it had really been. Everything around them was centuries in the making - centuries of not only waiting, but of planning everything for Arthur’s return. That had only been made easier by everyone else returning as well. “but now… it’s beautiful.”


	22. Chapter 22

Even with every battle the Avengers had ever fought, this one had to take the cake. Not in terms of danger, or even in terms of high stakes. “Somehow, I never actually thought that someone would try and do a real life Dungeons and Dragons.” he was flying around the battle zone - which in itself took up almost an entire New York City block - getting an aerial perspective on everything that was happening.

“Really?” Clint asked through the comms, his bowstring audible through Stark’s system. Arrows flew through the air, landing in the chests of the orcs that the rogue warlock had summoned. According to Darcy, orcs were just something that humans had dreamed up - a combination of trolls and Jidra. “That was the first thing that I thought of.”

“So why didn’t you?” Sam asked, curious as he flew overhead, dodging rocks that the creatures sent flying in his direction. Every once in awhile he would return fire, but for the most part he just acted as bait.

“Adrastia threatened to barbecue me if I tried to drag her into it, and I was too afraid to ask Kilgharrah.”

“Surprisingly smart of you.” Tony admitted. He was still trying to figure out how to actually get to the warlock in question - he had erected some sort of magical barrier between him and everyone else - keeping them from being able to reach him, while still letting himself cast spells that would affect everyone outside. 

“They will all remember me,” the warlock howled, throwing spell after spell, muttering them all under his breath. “the man who destroyed the Avengers!”

Of course, as soon as he said that, everything froze. Spells stopped in midair, orcs stopped mid-swing. Elemental dragons that the warlock had conjured dissolved, leaving behind nothing but bits of dust and the smell of smoke. “Stop!” the voice was magnified, echoing through the battleground.

“Who dares to stand in my way?”

“I do.” this time the voice was quiet, but still cut through everything going on. The warlock spun around to face the speaker, a smirk crawling across their face. He pulled down the hood on his cloak, revealing a thin, pale face and long greasy hair. 

Sam Wilson froze, letting the air currents just carry him along for a minute before he managed to restart his brain. He knew that voice - heard it every night on the phone. “Princess.” 

“I said stop.” she repeated, already bracing to fight the warlock. Darcy stood there, deep red cloak hiding her identity. From his position above, he could see a few knights on the outskirts of the battle, fighting their way in towards their princess. He wasn’t sure how she had managed to get to ground zero like she did - he assumed that Adrastia had something to do with it, but the dragon was nowhere to be seen.

“They are my enemy and I will destroy them!” the warlock screamed, sending a string of curses their way. All of the Avengers moved to dodge everything, but they didn’t have to. Before their eyes, the spells dissolved.

“No you won’t.” 

“Who do you think you are?” the warlock shouted, eyes a steady gold as they cast spell after spell. The newcomer - Darcy - still hadn’t lowered her hood, so they didn’t know who they were fighting against. All that they knew was that they were losing. “To come here and challenge me like this?”

“I am a Priestess of the Old Religion. You are nothing.” her words echoed, her voice magnified by the sheer amount of magic that was racing through her veins at the moment. Her father, Merlin, might have been the embodiment of magic. But at that moment, the Old Religion swirled through her veins like nothing that she had ever felt, surging through every vein in her body. “But they are mine.” She snarled, with all the fearsome loyalty and reckless bravery that her fathers were known for, multiplied in their daughter. “And you won't touch them.”

For the first time, the warlock seemed nervous. But he still had some fight left in him. “You cannot harm me.” he shouted, casting spell after spell and sending them all flying at Darcy. “I am a god!”

“You are tiny.” she shot back, eyes flashing and lips trembling. None of the spells that he cast touched her, all of them evaporating before they could land. “I can see the whole of time and space - the magick flowing through every living thing.” the gold in her eyes flared even brighter, like tiny suns. “And I bring it all back together.”

Her eyes flashed the warm golden color that signified magic, and the temperature dropped significantly. Despite all the stories that they had heard about King Uther’s reign, the Avengers had never quite understood why he had been so terrified of magic. Now they saw it. It was in the way that her hair blew in a wind that wasn't there, and the fire that burned in her eyes. It was the way that in the space of minutes, she fixed all of the damage that the rogue warlock had caused. And while the rest of the Avengers relaxed - she had just ended the fight - Sam flew in to land next to her. Her eyes were filling with tears, streaming down her cheeks as she fought for control with the power inside of her.

Sam approached her cautiously, more than aware of the fact that she could disintegrate him too if she wanted to. He had never been this scared before in his life - but his fear wasn’t for himself. It was for her. “Darcy, you’ve done it.” he soothed, approaching her like he would a wounded animal. “Now stop. Just let go.”

She turned to look at him, looking more ethereal than he thought to be humanly possible. “How can I let go of this?” she asked. “I bring life.” But she was shaking - like she was about to break apart. He could see her wincing - a sign that a headache was starting to build.

“Princess, that isn’t meant for you to control.” he said, starting to get just a little desperate. “You gotta let go of it.”

She studied him for a moment longer before her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed. “I’ve got her.” Sam called out, catching her as she fell. He scooped her into his arms, holding her carefully to make sure that she wasn’t in any pain when she woke up.

Tony was the first to reach them, the Iron Man armor opening up and letting the engineer out the second that it landed. “What just happened?” he asked, flustered beyond belief. “Did Glinda just go wicked witch, or am I crazy?”

There was laughter from farther down the street, along with the stomping of heavy boots. “She just saved all of your arses.”

They all turned to look, but it was Sam who spoke up first. “Gwaine!” he called, shifting his hold on Darcy slightly. Off to the side, the Captain and Natasha were taking care of their rogue warlock - turned into little more than a babbling mess by Darcy’s show of power. “What are you doing here?”

He made his way over to Darcy, the rest of the knights in his squadron following along behind him. “Protection detail for the little one.” he said, quickly checking her over. Once he was satisfied, he turned his attention back to the Avengers. “We were supposed to be going to an international summit, came to find this instead.”

“Has this happened before?” Bruce asked, looking intrigued. The scientist’s mind was going in a hundred different directions even as he tried to keep pants that were now twenty sizes too big on his body. He was itching to get his hands on a scanner of some kind so that he could start taking readings

“Never with Darcy, but yeah.” 

Sir Percival was the next one to reach them, his sheer size making it easier for him to make his way through the streets. “We’ve seen Merlin take out a whole army before because Arthur had been knocked unconscious.” 

“Once Morgana nearly killed an entire group of mercenaries because they took Gwen hostage.” Gwaine said, smiling fondly at the memory. “That was an interesting few days.”

“Oh, I was not that bad.” Morgana Pendragon came up the newly fixed street, putting back together anything that her niece had missed. Aithusa was wrapped around her neck, her little head bobbing in time with Morgana’s steps. There wasn’t much - a window here, a street sign there. All in all, the witch mused, her niece had done an excellent job. Still, she moved to check on her niece next - she might have fixed the battle, but no one knew what using that much magic at once could have done to her body.

“Is she okay?”

“She'll be fine." Morgana reassured after quickly looking her over. "She is exhausted, but stable."

“What happened?”

Morgana looked at them, her eyes fading back to their icy green. “She exhausted her core.” the witch said, tucking a lock of her niece’s hair back behind her ear. “She just needs rest.” She gestured to one of the knights - not one that any of the Avengers recognized, who still looked to be in awe of his company. “Take her back to our chambers.”

The knight nodded, gathering the princess in his arms. Adrastia slithered down, growing in size at the knight’s side and causing him to jump in surprise. “I’m coming with you.” she growled. Sam noted that she was even bigger than she normally was - almost the same size that Kilgharrah was. He smirked. The blue dragon was fierce in her protective instincts, and those tendencies came out stronger when her princess had been in danger.

8888

Albion was thriving - growing by the day. More and more people - both magical and mundane - were moving to Albion by the day. The Old Religion was continuously growing stronger, with magical creatures coming back all over the world around them. In the past year, Darcy had taken over more and more of the duties expected of her from her fathers, who had been acting as Regents as according to the deal Any other day, Tintagel Castle would have been full of activity, as the castle itself was the epicenter of everything that happened in the entire country. Today, however, it was silent. There was an undercurrent of excitement in the air that filled the entirety of Camelot.

Darcy made her way through the castle - heading to the throne room. Adrastia was by her side, her claws clicking against the floors as she walked. The dragon’s scales gleamed, shining like precious jewels in the morning sunlight. Her hands twisted in her dress before she smoothed it back down, trying to keep the silk from wrinkling. Her Aunt Morgana would kill her if she ruined this dress. Purple and golden silk, satin, and damask had been stitched through with threads of silver and gold, and woven with magic to keep it protected. A train followed along behind her, three feet of it sweeping along the stone floors of the castle. Her hair had been woven into tiny braids, interspersed with her regular curls. The aunts had helped her get dressed and do her make-up - while it was customary to have ladies to do that, none of the royal family were comfortable with that. 

Her heart was beating out of her chest, her magic racing through her veins. Her hands were clammy, and all that she could focus on was the thrum of magic in the air, practically dragging her to her destination.

“Are you ready?” Adrastia asked. Her voice helped to pull Darcy back down to reality. The dragon had been by her side for over a millenia by that point in her lives - they had never been separated for more than a few days. It was only fitting that they moved into this new stage of things together.

Darcy nodded. 

And then the doors opened.

The throne room was full of people - knights, nobles, commoners, celebrities, etc. Anyone and everyone was invited, and the streets outside were lined with more people who hadn’t been able to fit inside the magically expanded throne room. At the front of the room were her fathers - the Rulers of Camelot, the Once and Future King and his Consort. Dressed in court finery - her father in red, her dad in blue - with her aunts by their sides. Everyone in the room stood, turning to face her as she made her way to them.

“You have brought peace and prosperity to the land of Albion.” Arthur stated, a proud smile on his face as he looked at his daughter. The heavy crown on his head shone in the sunlight. “For that you shall be rewarded.”

Merlin nodded, taking a half step forward. “You have served the Old Religion well.” he praised, eyes glinting with pride and more than a hint of memories. Out of the pair of them, Merlin was the only one who really showed his age at all - his eyes were ancient compared to the rest of him. “For that you shall be rewarded.”

Darcy nodded, her head bowed as she reached the base of the twin thrones, and knelt in front of her fathers. “Yes, my kings.” she kept her eyes on the floor as she waited for things to begin.

Her father stood in front of her, keeping his eyes on her despite the sheer amount of people staring at him. “Do you swear to rule with honor, for justice, and to always care for those that you represent?” His voice echoed around the room, and she could feel the power growing in the air. 

It took her a second to find her voice, and she mentally cursed. “I do.”

“Do you swear to always uphold the laws of Albion, no matter the price?” her father asked, continuing with the traditions. “To protect her people and her ideals until your last breath?”

“I do.”

Arthur stepped back, and Merlin took his place. The warlock’s eyes were glowing, his aura filling up the air around them. Despite his nerves when it came to the royal side of things, he never faltered when dealing with the more magical side. But that made sense - he had become a royal through marriage. But Merlin had been born with his magic. “Do you swear to uphold the balance between worlds, to never favor one over the other - mortal or magical?” 

“I do.” her voice grew stronger with every recitation of the words, her eyes flashing gold in the same way her dad’s and aunt’s were. None of them were actually using magic - just reacting to the amount in the air.

“Do you swear to listen to the world around you, and keep its ways?” Merlin asked, his tone serious. “To honour each cycle of life and death, and to never interfere in the passing of time?”

“I do.” there was a moment of silence then, everyone waiting to see what was going to happen next. The last coronation had been in 1953 - most people hadn’t ever seen one happen before. No one had seen a magical one.

“By the sacred laws vested in me,” Arthur began, his words echoing around the room. Everyone else was completely silent - this was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and none of them were going to ruin it by making a sound. “I crown you, Darcy Ygraine, Queen of Camelot.” As he spoke, she felt the weight of a golden crown settling on her head. At the same time, Merlin held out the Sidhe staff that he had acquired so many centuries ago, passing it on to his daughter.

_Long live the queen!_ Her fathers started the call, and it quickly spread through the room, and out to the streets beyond. Her fathers held out their hands, but she pulled herself up to her feet. Already, her cheeks were starting to hurt from the smile on her face.

_Long live the queen!_ As she looked over the crowd, she saw her family - both new and old. They all cheered for her, watching as she accepted this new role. 

_Long live the queen!_ Adrastia was curled around the back of her chair, her scales shimmering in the sunlight - a more vibrant blue than she could ever remember seeing. The Old Ways - the Old Religion, to be precise - had returned, and new practitioners were making their way to Albion and Camelot every day. Even her Father could feel the difference, and he didn’t have a single drop of magic in his body. 

_Long live the queen!_ Her eyes moved back to the crowd. Jane was nearly crying with happiness as she cheered. As much as Darcy wanted to go and comfort her friend, she couldn’t run off just yet. There was still a lot to be done. Her eyes shifted to the rest of her friends standing there - Thor and Jane, Tony and Pepper, Bruce, and Clint. Her uncles were standing at the back of the room as an honour guard, their armor gleaming in the sunlight.

_Long live the queen! _Finally, there was Sam. The former pararescue officer had become a Knight of Camelot, and had moved to stay in Camelot with her only a few months ago. Their relationship was progressing well - he helped to train the new knights in military tactics, and went to join the Avengers in their battles when they needed him. Arthur had started making motions about beginning to train Sam up to help her with her duties. But they were happy, and that was what was most important.

And Darcy smiled - everything was exactly as it should be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is technically over, but there is still an epilogue left! There is one part of this chapter that hints at a future story in the 'Strange Families' selection - see if you can figure it out.


	23. Chapter 23

He had practically been vibrating with excitement all day. Mr. Stark had promised him a tour of Stark Tower - renamed after the Avengers had moved to the compound in Upstate New York. And while the heroes spent most of their time at the upstate training facility, there was still a chance that at least one of the heroes would be there. 

He had already been shown the training rooms, the common area, the massive kitchen and ice cream freezer, the R&D department… the Tower was so big that Peter knew he would be getting lost for weeks. But Mr. Stark insisted that he had saved the best for last.

“And this, underoos, is where the magic happens.” Tony said, leading Peter into the main lab of Avengers Tower. This was something that he had wanted to see for his entire life, since he was old enough to understand just what science really entailed. 

The teen froze in the doorway, just taking it all in - and so did Tony, once he saw what was going on. “Glinda!” He squawked indignantly, watching as papers flew around the room to get to where they were supposed to go. A broom swept by itself in the corner, and bits of equipment flew around the room, reshelving themselves in their proper places. “When I said magic, I meant Science!” the billionaire complained loudly.

“Tony, if you wake up Jane I won't stop her from destroying your suits.” a voice threatened, and Peter looked over to see a short, curvy woman sitting at a desk, going through stacks of paperwork. She was dressed casually compared to everyone else that he had seen on the upper floors of SI - she was dressed fairly similar to Tony in jeans and a t-shirt. “Also, I've got stuff from Pepper for you to sign.”

“Evil witch.” The engineer said, his words lacking any sort of actual heat.

She looked up, and Peter gasped. Her eyes glowed gold and she raised an eyebrow at them as she hopped off of her chair. She muttered a spell under her breath, and everything stopped - music stopped playing, papers stopped flying, the broom put itself away. Her eyes faded back to blue. “You could have warned me that you were bringing someone up here, asshole.” 

“Didn’t I hire someone to do this stuff?” he asked, picking up the papers that she had set in front of him. He barely even looked at them before beginning to sign things - if Darcy was going to try and get him to sign over his company in the middle of his other paperwork, she would have done it years ago. He had nothing to fear from things that she gave him. “I’m pretty sure that I hired someone to do this when you left.”

But the brunette shook her head. “I fired them.” she told Tony, irritated. “They were leaking information to the press.”

That was when it all clicked for Peter. He had heard MJ gushing about this woman - and her Aunt Guinevere in particular - for months now. According to his best friend, they were changing the world politically, not just magically. But that wasn’t what was important to the teenager from Queens.

Peter’s eyes went wide, his mouth dropping open in surprise. “Ohmigodyoure-”

8888

Darcy rolled her eyes even as she hopped down off of the desk that she was sitting on top of. “The Queen of Albion, y-” she started to sigh, but was cut off before she could finish.

“Darcy Lewis!” The teenager was practically jumping in place in his excitement - his eyes had grown so big that she was almost afraid they were going to fall out of his head. “You're the girl that tazed Thor! I'm Peter, you’re amazing!”

“You know who I am?” Darcy was stunned. She’d never had someone recognize her for her work with Jane - usually it was all about Albion. And while she would never be upset for being recognized for her country, it was still more than a little flattering to be recognized for other things.

“You helped Dr. Foster with her discovery of Einstein-Rosen Bridges.” Peter gasped, and both Mr. Stark and the woman in front of them froze, both turning to look at the teenager as he finally pieced together her golden eyes and what they meant. “How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“That spell!” he asked, his mind whirling as he tried to figure out the science of it. “You didn’t say anything, I thought they all had to be spoken.”

She whispered something under her breath, and a small growl echoed around the room. From a high-up corner somewhere, a small blue dragon came flying down to their level, coming to a landing right in front of them. Golden eyes studied him, the dragon’s head tilted to one side as she studied the teenager. Peter waved awkwardly, blushing slightly when the dragon chirruped in response. The dragon flew back to Darcy’s side, curling up around her.

“She likes you.” Darcy said, sounding mildly surprised and at least a little bit fascinated. “Dras doesn’t like anybody.”

He smiled, blushing slightly at the implications of that sentence. “Can you teach me?” He asked, and that caught both of their attention - hers and Mr. Stark’s. “Magic, I mean.”

“You want to learn magic?” She asked, and a slow grin stretched across her face when he nodded rapidly. “How old are you, kid?”

“Fifteen.”

Her eyes flashed gold as she studied him for a moment. Then she nodded. “Alright.”

“What, just like that?”

“I like you.” she said finally, moving to wrap an arm around his shoulders and pull him deeper into the lab. Peter was so excited that he could barely breathe. He had been expecting to see the labs, not meet a queen and be offered a chance to learn magic.

Tony followed behind them, panic written on his face. “You can’t keep him!” he sputtered, chasing after the pair. “He’s mine!”

Darcy smirked, and Tony knew that he wasn’t going to like whatever she said next. “Yeah, but the aunts keep going on about adopting - maybe they’ll want him.”

Tony looked so horrified that she couldn’t help but laugh. “No!” the engineer said, shaking his head. “He’s not allowed to meet the actual evil witch!”

That made him pause. “Wait, what?” he asked, stopping in his tracks. His eyes were huge in his face as he looked between the adults. “Evil witch? I don’t want anything to do with anything evil.” he swore.

But the Queen of Albion just laughed. “He means my aunt - Morgana Pendragon.”

“Oh.” Peter blushed, ducking his head as he rubbed at the back of his neck. “I'd be okay with her.”

Tony snorted, ruffling the teenager’s hair. “Of course you would, kid.”

Adrastia landed on Darcy’s shoulder, flapping her wings a bit to help keep her balance. The dragon bent down to whisper in the brunette’s ear, making the woman quickly jump up. She started heading for the door, summoning her bag as she moved.

“Where are you going?” Tony called out.

She barely even turned around, just kept walking towards the door. She held out one hand, and the papers that she had handed to Tony flew back to her. “It's girls night.”

“Isn't that just an excuse for you and Pep and your scary aunts to get together and drink?”

Darcy nodded, too focused on the papers in front of her to look at the engineer. “Yes, except Natasha also comes and we talk shit about all of you.” she added. “It’s fun.”

She almost made it to the elevators before she turned back around, pointing at Peter. “Right.” she said, snapping her fingers as she remembered what she had promised. “Give me a call - we’ll set up a time to start tutoring you.” 

Peter was flustered - more than he usually was. He was a scientist by nature - magic was outside of his wheelhouse. But at the same time, the idea of being able to do magic - something that everyone dreamed about at least once in their lives - was being handed to him on a silver platter. “Right.” he stuttered, blushing slightly. “Yeah, okay. Wait - I don't have your phone number.” he panicked, fumbling in his pockets for his phone. He couldn’t remember where he had left it, and ended up just repeatedly smacking his pockets in his hunt for the device.

Darcy laughed, watching him for a moment. Then her eyes flashed gold, and his phone appeared in his hand, a new contact already updated - Queen of the Lab. “There.” she sounded satisfied. “Now you do.” With that taken care of, she pressed the button for the elevator and quickly got in, the queen and her dragon leaving the scientists behind.

“Right J.” Darcy said, feeling her magic settle around her as she talked to the AI. “Let’s go find the ladies.”

“As you wish, Miss Lewis.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please review!


End file.
